Radiobeacon Data Sharing by Forwarding Low Energy Transmissions to a Cloud Host

ABSTRACT

Remote actuation of machines or machine systems is realized by a system for coupling a radiobeacon to a smart device and in turn to a broader network. The smart device is configured as a proximity-actuated “community nodal device” by an application that operates as part of the system. The community nodal device is given instructions to function as a “soft switch”: to automatically “upswitch”, amplify, and broadcast low energy, local area radiobeacon “messages” to a cloud-based server, where the message is interpreted according to rules or policies established by an operator, and a command is transmitted for execution to a remote device. Conventional smart devices generally discard data not addressed to the owner of the smart device. Instead of discarding third party messages, the system preempts their handling, and using a soft switch formed from background resources, anonymously, without access to the message by a user interface of the proxy device, and without waiting for a network query from the host, engineers an “upswitched transmission” of radiobeacon-generated data to a cloud host. Advantageously, confidential sharing of ad hoc community resources results in a negligible load on background resources of the community nodal device. Messages may include a sensor data payload. Bit overloading enables a sensor data payload to be compressed into a few hundred bytes or less.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/967,339 filed 13 Dec. 2015, which claims thebenefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. Provisional PatentAppl. No. 62/260,313 filed 26 Nov. 2015 and from U.S. Provisional PatentAppl. No. 62/256,955 filed 18 Nov. 2015 which are herein incorporated infull by reference for all purposes. This application is further relatedto U.S. Provisional Pat. Appl. No. 62/175,141 filed 12 Jun. 2015 titled“Devices And Network Architecture For Improved Radiobeacon Mediated DataContext Sensing”, U.S. Provisional Pat. Appl. No. 62/136,285 filed Mar.20, 2015 titled “On-Board Battery Monitor and Radiobeacon NotificationSystem”, and U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/301,236filed 10 Jun. 2014 titled “Tracking Device System”, all said patentdocuments being co-assigned and incorporated herein in entirety for allpurposes by reference.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

Not Applicable.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure pertains generally to systems and methods for providinguser services over an ad hoc crowd-sourced network. More particularly,the network comprises one or more radiobeacons each fitted with a lowenergy radio and one or more sensors, one or more proximate nodaldevices configured to receive a message from said radiobeacons and relaythat message to a cloud-based cloud host server, the cloud host serveracting in turn to actuate one or more remote machines or machine systemsaccording to user preferences.

BACKGROUND

The smartphone application known as “Uber” has brought into focusopportunities for sharing resources (such as vehicles) through a systemdesigned to link available vehicles and drivers with guest users whohave need of a ride. “Ride sharing” initially was a means for reducingrush hour congestion by small groups of co-workers who knew each other,but has evolved to operate essentially as a “for hire” service mediatedthrough the Internet. However, the service has a high cost to theresource providers—the drivers—raising the issue as to whether sharinghas become exploitation.

There is a need for resource sharing that operates with little or nocost to the resource provider, and in fact provides welcome reciprocity,such that roles may be interchanged and shared between resourceproviders and resource consumers. Sharing would be improved if providersand consumers both are able to draw on the resources of others to solveproblems, and in turn provide resources that the system may use to solveproblems such as living alone as we become more elderly, recovering alost dog or cellphone, preventing mishaps to children who may otherwisenot have adult supervision in this increasingly 7/24 workday world, andother challenges we face in everyday living.

More effort to explore the new sharing capacity of Internet-compatiblenodal devices may help to ameliorate these and related problems. Todate, efforts in this direction have necessitated that proprietarynetworks be built. No means for distributing shared resources fairly andwithout exploitation has been achieved. However, information sharingsystems, whereby system resources are more efficiently shared inbackground, may yet achieve unexpected emergent properties, includingsynergies of function and new applications or properties.

SUMMARY

Disclosed are embodiments of a computer-implemented system operating toupswitch sensor data from a “low energy radio transmission” to a cloudhost server in digital communication with a broad area network having aplurality of smart devices. Generally, the low energy radiotransmissions are “radiobeacon signals”. By configuring smart devices toscan for qualified radiobeacon signal identifiers, ad hoc networks ofwidely used “smart phones” and other smart devices already in servicemay be created—these the networks surprisingly may be enabled to uploadthird party “radio messages” to a cloud host server, while causinglittle or no inconvenience to the owner of a private nodal device, whoremains unaware of the background forward broadcast. A softwareapplication is provided that creates a “soft switch” in each user'sdevice, effectively recruiting devices into a network of community nodaldevices that facilitate sharing of computer resources, each device isconfigured to re-transmit other user's messages, regardless of messageownership, to a cloud host server, where the work of analyzing andacting on the message is initiated and completed. Any third-partymessage contents are not open to, or available in memory, for the ownerof the private nodal device to see; and reciprocally, owners of nodaldevices may rely on the nodal devices of other community members withoutloss of privacy, because the service is provided through backgroundserves without using the memory resources of the proxy. This isparticularly helpful because owners of radiobeacons benefit if they canreceive messages even when their smart device is out of range of the lowenergy transmissions of their radiobeacons. By mutual reciprocity, thosecommunity members who contribute resources also benefit from theresources of others.

The system reconfigures commonly available “smart devices”, here termedmore generally “nodal devices”; and recruits them for signaltransmission using background services of the host device. An ad hocnetwork is created, made up of low energy radiobeacons and what aretermed here “community nodal devices”, which refer to devices running anapplication of the invention. The application preempts the conventionallogic to discard anonymous radio contacts and instead implements andenables sharing of background computing resources (hardware layers andstacks) of a device as needed to “upswitch” messages from a low energyradio band to an amplified signal compatible with internetworktransceivers, without notifying the private owner of a nodal device ofthe radio traffic in background on the device. In one sense, the messagetakes a “shortcut” through shared computing resources to apre-determined cloud host address on an internetwork, and is thenprocessed and ownership assigned according to the smart resources of anadministrative server. Based on message contents and owneridentification, owner instructions for actuation of remote devices arecommanded and executed; community priorities may also be implemented,such as shared notifications to community members having a need to knowabout a hazard or a sensor output that has broader implications thanjust a private interest. Communities may be defined by a commonmembership, such as members of an institution, members of aneighborhood, members in a location or general area, or by user profile.

The system includes one or more radiobeacons having a sensor or sensorpackage, a clock, a processor with a memory for storing an instructionset, a radio emitter with antenna, such that the radio emitter operatesat a first frequency and is configured to emit a broadcast signal in alow energy radio bandwidth. These radiobeacon signals include anidentifier and a sensor data payload; the identifier and data areencoded in frames having defined bit structure. Radiobeacons are ownedby an owner, who may also own a nodal device, and there may be manydifferent owners who own one or more radiobeacons and/or nodal devices.By distributing and sharing a ‘software application’ that runs on anynodal device, owners form an ad hoc “community” of nodal devices capableof receiving messages from each other's radiobeacons, amplifying thosesignals, and upswitching them to an internetwork-compatible radioset forretransmission to a designated “cloud host” through a broad areanetwork. The switching is made possible by a “soft switch” implementedby the application, the soft switch being assembled from communicationsand hardware “layers” or “stacks” built into the smart device. Thus theowner of a radiobeacon can receive a message even when a commonly owned(“co-owned”) smart device configured for receiving messages from theradiobeacon is out of range or out of service. Secondary message routingcan be designated, for example, using shared community resources.Advantageously, content or context may be used to determine messagerouting and for establishing any actions to be taken in response.

Initially, a nodal device detects a low energy radio signal. Instead ofdiscarding the message because the radiobeacon signal is not intendedfor the owner of the nodal device (i.e., the owner of the radiobeaconand the owner of the nodal device are distinct entities), theapplication is enabled to preempt the normal process and “upswitch” themessage to the cloud host of the system (using background resources andat most a limited set of foreground resources). Once preempted,qualified messages are amplified and transmitted as a “forwardbroadcast” addressed (with an IP address and communicatively efficaciouspreamble and message structure, but maintaining the original messagecontents). The forward broadcast will include the unique identifier andsensor data payload of the original message, plus any timestamp orgeostamp generated by the shared nodal device. This is accomplishedwithout interrupting or alerting the owner of the nodal device to thebackground radio traffic, so that all messages remain private duringuploading to the cloud host server. At the cloud host, the uniqueradiobeacon identifier (a 128-bit word as currently practiced) allows anadministrative server to associate the message contents with its owner'saccount and to engineer a response.

The cloud host server then issues a command or notification to remotesystem assets based on the message contents. In this way a “shortcut” isconstructed out of network components—using an owner's radiobeacon, anodal device owned or under control of another member of the community,and cloud resources provided by the system—in order to effect anotification (such as a display on a screen or an alarm tone) or amachine transformation (such as raising a garage door). Owners may usethis shared network to cause commands to be executed on remote machines,and in other instances the system may aggregate data or operatecontext-based or global policies that result in commands auto-generatedby the system. Generally, a sensor datum or data included in the messagetriggers a particular response (as specific to the unique identifier);the response may be programmed by the user so as to be triggered by aparticular sensor output, such as a button on a radiobeacon that ispressed, or a jolt that exceeds safe limits (as sensed by anaccelerometer in a sensor package, as may be indicative of a fall or acollision). Responses may be as simple as a notification displayed on auser device, or more complicated, such as notification of a possibleinjury to a first responder, or forwarding a cardiac monitor signal to aphysician's automated service, and so forth. In making a response,context provided by the sensor component(s) of the message is combinedwith other indicia and rules programmed into the system. Context may beas simple as time of day, or may involve more complex indicia such theexpected arrival time of the next bus and the location of a friend. Moregenerally, contextual information may be selected from databaseassociations with an identifier, a timestamp, a proximity indication, ageostamp, from sensor data, or associations deduced from aggregations ofmessages received from a defined local area in a defined duration oftime, or from trends detected in a pool of all messages, for example.The response may be pre-programmed by the owner of the radiobeacon (towhom the message is addressed, as identifiable from the uniqueidentifiers associated with the message), or may be programmed to betriggered at a system level based on aggregate data received from manysources.

Any sensor data that can be digitized may be encoded in a message. In apreferred instance, the sensor data is “overloaded” into a standardmessage format. In another instance, additional frames or packets areincluded in the message. Sensor data may be simple or complex. Examplesof sensors capable of digital output include photocells, radiationsensors, motion sensors, velocity sensors, accelerometers, jolt sensors,gyroscopic sensors, gesture sensors, gravitational sensors, magneticsensors, compass sensors, clock sensors, switch open/closed sensors,vibration sensors, audio pattern detection sensors, vehicle performancesensors, biological agent sensors, biochemical agent sensors, chemicalagent sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, windspeed sensors,pressure sensors, location sensors, proximity sensors, globalpositioning satellite sensors, relative radio signal strength sensors,radio traffic sensors, and so forth. Sensors packages having audiosensors, such as a microphone or diaphragm, may include some level ofacoustic pattern matching capability embedded in the sensor package; inother words, some preliminary filtering of the sensor output is used tominimize bandwidth. Various combinations of sensors may be provided in asensor package.

The remote machine may be what is termed here an “effector machine”,indicating that the machine executes a physical transformation, such asa motor that opens a garage door, or what is termed here more generallyan “actuation device”, indicating that the device may actuate amachine-generated display, or may recruit other machines and devices toperform designated functions.

Exemplary systems may include radiobeacons regularly broadcasting localconditions or canned messages such as merchant appeals. In someinstances, radio emission is intermittent and periodic according to aschedule; in other instances, radio emission is triggered according toambient conditions, such as crossing a threshold sensor output. In apreferred embodiment, a radiobeacon initiates a broadcast when acompatible nodal device enters radio proximity and the radiobeacon hasnew sensor output.

In one aspect, the invention includes methods for upswitching sensordata from a low energy radio transmission of a radiobeacon to a cloudhost server in digital communication with a broad area network having aplurality of smart devices. Smart devices are well known and aregenerally privately owned. Each includes a processor, memory, andhardware layers for a) receiving low energy radio transmissions, b)installing and implementing software applications, c) operating softwareapplications as a foreground service or as a background service, c)directing radio transmissions identifiably associated with the owner ofa smart device to a foreground service, e) dumping radio transmissionsnot identifiably associated with the private owner of the smart device,f) marking radio transmissions with a timestamp when received, g)optionally marking radiobeacon transmissions with a proximitymeasurement or a geostamp where received, and h) amplifying,broadcasting, and receiving radio transmissions on a broad area radiosetthat is efficacious in communicating digitally with a cloud host server.The method includes steps for (a) providing one or more radiobeaconshaving a sensor or sensor package, a radio emitter with antenna, anencoder, a processor with supporting data processing circuitry, andmemory for storing data and an instruction set to be executed by theprocessor, such that the radiobeacon or radiobeacons are configured foremitting a low energy radio transmission that includes a formattedunique identifier and a sensor payload, such that the formatted uniqueidentifier and sensor payload define a qualified radio message, furthersuch that each the radio message is associated with a private owner ofthe radiobeacon, the owner being identifiable by the identifier; and (b)installing an application on a smart device of the plurality of smartdevices, such that the application is configured for preempting thesmart device from discarding the qualified radio message when receivedby the smart device, instead the application operating to configure theprocessor, memory and hardware layers as a soft switch enabled toupswitchingly amplify and broadcast the radio message as a forwardbroadcast to the cloud host server, including in the broadcast theidentifier and sensor payload, plus any preamble, network address of thecloud host server, any communication format as needed, and anytimestamp, proximity measurement, or geostamp as generated by the smartdevice. In consequence, the smart device is transiently restructured bythe software as a “community nodal device”, the community nodal deviceand soft switch being further characterized and defined as having thecapacity for (i) automatically upswitching and forward broadcasting anyqualified message in background to the cloud host server if the uniqueidentifier is not recognized as being associated with the private ownerof the smart device, without revealing the message contents to the ownerof the smart device; and, (ii) automatically processing the message inforeground services if the unique identifier is recognized as beingassociated with the private owner of the smart device, revealing andacting on the message contents in foreground services to the owner.

The inventive methods also include receiving the forward broadcast atthe cloud host, the cloud host having an administrative serverconfigured with an instruction set and an administrative database, suchthat the instruction set including instructions for: i) parsing theforward broadcast so as to extract the unique identifier, the sensorpayload, and any associated timestamp, proximity measurement, or geotagcoded therein; and, ii) then, based on the owner identification, sensorpayload, and any contextual information associated therewith,formulating a command or notification, such that the command ornotification is based on rules associated with the owner identificationin an administrative database and any rules implemented by a systemadministrator on behalf of a community of members; and finally,transmitting the command or notification over the broad area network toat least one smart device of the plurality of smart devices, to a remotemachine, or to an actuation device.

As an added feature, the methods of the invention include provisions for“dumping” (i.e., discarding and erasing) any record or content of themessage from the proxy device that aided in sending the message to thebroad are network, and for releasing any computing resources shared bythe community device in assembling the soft switch, unless and untilanother orphan message arrives.

As an added benefit, the system configuration implemented by thesoftware, if the message owner's foreground services are unresponsive,automatically can suspend any process for processing the message inforeground services and automatically upswitch and forward broadcast themessage in background to the cloud host server for disposition. Thecloud host is able to parse the message, determine ownership byconsulting a database, and based on rules associated with the privateowner of the radiobeacon in an administrative database and any rulesimplemented by a system administrator on behalf of a community ofmembers, take an action to the benefit of the owner and/or thecommunity.

Command sequences take a number of forms. One method involvestransmitting a command over the broad area network to at least one smartdevice of the plurality of smart devices, and generally this would bethe response to a private message, essentially providing an alternativeor secondary process for message delivery as preset by the owner.

Alternatively, in cases of general community interest, the method mayinvolve transmitting the command to the plurality of smart devices, suchthat the command is a command to display a notification to a communityof members having converted their smart devices to community nodaldevices. This would be employed for example in matters of public safety,where a radiobeacon was reporting sensor data indicative of a fire, anauto accident, gunfire, or severe local weather.

More generally, the methods may also include provision for transmittingcommands to a remote machine, an actuation device, or a pluralitythereof, such that a physical transformation will be achieved, forexample opening a garage door, or rolling down a car window, where theowner is not in physical proximity and needs assistance in performingthe action. The command to the plurality of remote machines or actuationdevices may be a command to execute a machine action or to actuate adevice.

The nature of the action (or notification) may depend on the contents ofthe sensor payload. Sensor or sensor packages on radiobeacons will vary,but may be selected from a photocell, a radiation sensor, a motionsensor, a velocity sensor, an accelerometer, a jolt sensor, a gyroscopicsensor, a gesture sensor, a gravitational sensor, a magnetic fieldsensor, a compass, a local time sensor, a switch open/switch closedsensor, a vibration sensor, an audio pattern detection sensor, a vehicleperformance sensor, a biological agent sensor, a biochemical agentsensor, a chemical agent sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressuresensor, a humidity sensor, a windspeed sensor, a location sensor, aglobal positioning satellite sensor, a proximity sensor, a relativeradio signal strength sensor, or a radio traffic sensor, and so forth.

Location information leads to special applications. In some instances,location is known because the radiobeacon is stationary in a fixedlocation known to the administrative server. In other instances,radiotagged objects (having a radiobeacon attached) are portable, buttheir location can be deduced from recent radio contacts with otherbeacons or signals having known locations. An aggregation of radiomessages from a plurality of community members may also be useful inestablishing location, and some smart devices are equipped with GPSsensors, allowing precise position centering.

Thus the action taken can be targeted to a particular location. Othersensor context can also be important in directing action. Context as awhole, as known to the administrative server from historical andaggregated data stored in an administrative database, can be queried todetermine the parameters of action to be taken. Aggregates of messages,all indicating tight traffic in a local area, could be used for example,to invite community members to find routes around the area. Similarly,community members could be offered direct routes to an event based onroutes and experiences of others headed to the event.

In yet another application, the method may involve compiling and sharinga map or plot display in which sensor data is graphically displayed inaggregate, or graphically displayed with trend lines, or graphicallydisplayed with an updatable tracking function. This can be of use, forexample, in tracking lost objects. In at least one application themethod may include providing a cloud-based service for graphicallydisplayed the location of a lost object as tracked by its radiotag inthe form of a track or path superimposed on the map, such that the mapis updated when the administrative server receives a fresh radio contactand location of the lost object, the track including a chronologicalrecord of recent contacts in a mapped sequence.

Also provided here are devices, software, networks and systemarchitectures for radiobeacon sensor payload sharing by the methods ofthe invention. These and other elements, features, steps, and advantagesof the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration ofthe following detailed description of the invention, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which presently preferredembodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example.

It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings andexamples are for illustration and description only and are not intendedas a definition of the limits of the invention. The various elements,features, steps, and combinations thereof that characterize aspects ofthe invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexedto and forming part of this disclosure. The invention does notnecessarily reside in any one of these aspects taken alone, but ratherin the invention taken as a whole.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teachings of the present invention are more readily understood byconsidering the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary application of a system ofthe invention for campus security.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary network and system of asecond embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an exemplary network and system of a thirdembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an exemplary network and system of afourth embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B (two sheets) illustrate a block diagram of a generalmethod of deploying and using an exemplary system of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a bit diagram figuratively showing the structure of a message.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram of functional components of a radiobeaconhaving limited computing resources in radio communication with acompatible nodal device, the nodal device having a processor andapplication for receiving a radio signal loaded with sensor data andswitching that signal to a broad area network.

FIG. 7B is a block diagram of functional components of a secondradiobeacon in bidirectional communication with a nodal device, theradiobeacon and the nodal device both having a processing capacity and anon-volatile memory capacity for storing instruction sets.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of system for upswitching sensor data from alow energy radio transmission to a cloud host server in digitalcommunication with a broad area network having a plurality of smartdevices.

FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C are plan and perspective views of an exemplaryradiobeacon configured for use in the inventive systems and networks.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are exploded views of an exemplary radiobeaconconfigured for use in the inventive systems and networks

FIG. 11 is an animation showing a radiobeacon transiting a defined areaso as to come into proximity with a series of three nodal devices.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a system and network having threeradiobeacons, a plurality of community nodal devices in proximity to oneor more radiobeacons (one of which is depicted as a smartphone), a cloudhost server, and an exemplary data structure and notification process inthe cloud host server. One radiobeacon is tagged to an object in motion.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary view of a system and network having three ormore radiobeacons, a nodal device hub, an optional computing device, acloud-based cloud host server, and three client devices.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are views of an alternate radiobeacon and beaconmate ofthe invention. Shown is a simplified command and control systemutilizing a beaconmate, a nodal device, and a cloud host server.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary view of a radiobeacon with beaconmate in digitalcommunication with a nodal device. Transmission of commands can bedirect (dashed arrow) or indirect (solid arrows).

FIG. 17 is a component level view of a beaconmate in indirect radiocommunication with a smartphone through a community nodal device.

FIG. 18 is a simplified view of a system for using a beaconmate tooperate a smart device according to the systems and methods of theinvention.

FIG. 19 illustrates a view of a message in which “bit overloading” offrames is used to transmit sensor signals within the bit structure of astandard communications protocol.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are screenshot views of graphical user interfacedisplays. The displays are generated by an exemplary softwareapplication of the invention on a nodal device or other computingmachine.

The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale. Certain features orcomponents herein may be shown in somewhat schematic form and somedetails of conventional elements may not be shown in the interest ofclarity, explanation, and conciseness. The drawing figures are herebymade part of the specification, written description and teachingsdisclosed herein.

Glossary

Certain terms are used throughout the following description to refer toparticular features, steps or components, and are used as terms ofdescription and not of limitation. As one skilled in the art willappreciate, different persons may refer to the same feature, step orcomponent by different names. Components, steps or features that differin name but not in structure, function or action are consideredequivalent and not distinguishable, and may be substituted hereinwithout departure from the invention. The following definitionssupplement those set forth elsewhere in this specification. Certainmeanings are defined here as intended by the inventors, i.e., they areintrinsic meanings. Other words and phrases used herein take theirmeaning as consistent with usage as would be apparent to one skilled inthe relevant arts. In case of conflict, the present specification,including definitions, will control.

Radiobeacon—refers to a device having a low power radio emitter forbroadcasting a local intermittent message, the message containing aunique identifier (conventionally termed a UUID) indicative of a devicemanufacturer, model and “serial number” to be associated with an owner,optionally one or two frames or “values” (conventionally termed “major”and “minor” values) containing location or sub-type information, andpreferably at least one sensor output in digital form, wherein thesensor output may be transmitted in a dedicated frame in the message, ormay be overloaded into the major or minor values, or even in the UUID.Certain smart devices may emulate radiobeacons by programming a lowenergy radioset in the device to emit radiobeacon messages in a properformat. This includes bluetoothed devices generally, iBeacons, any smartdevice such as a cellphone, laptop or personal assistant device having abeacon functionality, and enhanced devices in the internet-of-things.Radiobeacons can be installed so as to be generally stationary even ifportable or can be mobile, as when hand carried or affixed to an objector device that is intended to move or is moving. Radiobeacons may beintegrated into networks, generally as radio emitters with no or limitedradio reception, and have limited range. In some instances, radiobeaconsmay have limited capability as transceivers, and may receive radiosignals and communications, such as for receiving remote programupdates, or may include a radio receiver capable of detecting radiotraffic in close proximity to the radiobeacon.

In the figures, radiobeacons intended to be generally stationary areindicated by a “star”; and radiobeacons that are intended to be portableor in motion are indicated by a “circular disk”, however these indiciaare selected for purpose of illustration and are not intended to berepresentative of or limiting with respect to structure.

“Broad area networks” (BANs) are defined broadly to include wide areanetworks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), virtual private networks(VPNs), and metropolitan area networks (MANs), including wireless radionetworks, cellular networks, and any patchwork of local area networks,wired or wireless, operating with a broadband, geographically extendedrange and Internet connectivity at some point or points. These networkshave varying hybrid structures, but are generally long-distancecommunications networks that cover cities, states, countries, and may beglobal. The Internet is the largest broad area network that has beenimplemented and includes a variety of backbone connections and branchconnections. “Internetwork” is used here sensu lato to indicate any BANthat includes at least one digital connection to Internet-based “cloud”services, where the connection(s) to the Internet may be wired,wireless, or a serial or parallel composite of wired and wirelesssegments making up a digital connection. Digital connections includebidirectional and unidirectional segments.

“Nodal device”—refers to any electronic device with a processor,non-volatile memory for storing program instructions, and supportingcircuitry and hardware for executing commands from a user, for wirelesscommunication with a broad area network portal or interface (i.e.,communicating with an internetwork) and for wireless communication fromand/or to a radiobeacon or other low energy radio device, where the tworadio interfaces (a BAN interface and a low energy radiobeaconinterface, sometimes termed a BLE interface) are operated on separateradiosets at different frequencies and power levels. Nodal devicestypically have a plurality of connections, whether permanent orintermittent, bidirectional or unidirectional, to a plurality of broadarea networks, including cellular, wide area, and local area wirelessnetworks, and to low power radiobeacon emitters when at close range.Each device is defined as a node. Nodal devices include modernsmartphones, personal digital assistants, laptops, notebook computers,tablet computers, desktop computers, or any equivalent device that canstore and hold programs and data, execute programs, receive and/ortransmit information and commands via wired or wireless channels ofcommunication over a plurality of networks. Nodal devices also includeradio-equipped computing machines in the form of a “hub” or “basestation”. Many such devices may also be programmed to function as mobileradiobeacons for emitting low energy radio messages, and may be providedwith sensor units or packages, such as GPS sensor and locationcalculating packages, or accelerometry, gyroscope, compass and motionsensor packages. Radiobeacon emissions are distinct and independent ofthe radio pings used to identify cell towers.

Nodal devices typically have inherent functionality for: i) runningapplications on foreground resources or background resources, ii)receiving low energy radiobeacon transmissions, iii) discardingradiobeacon transmissions not identifiably associated with the nodaldevice's owner, iv) directing radiobeacon transmissions identifiable toan owner of a nodal device to a foreground service (such as a userinterface for answering telephone calls or displaying text messages), v)marking radio transmissions with a timestamp when received, vi)optionally marking radio transmissions with a proximity measurement or ageostamp (sometimes termed a “geotag”) where received, and vii)transmitting and receiving radio transmissions on a broad area radiosetthat is communicatively compatible with an internetwork portal.

Nodal devices include “foreground services” and “background services”having different command tree priorities. Commands for operations thatshould be performed to completion without being interrupted are“foreground commands” and utilize foreground resources (such as a userinterface). Commands for operations that can be interrupted by aforeground command and continued at a later time are “backgroundcommands” and utilized background resources. In this way, foregroundcommands typically have a predetermined completion time, whereasbackground commands may have an extended completion time, depending onthe level of interruption by foreground commands. Embodiments of theinvention take advantage of the fact that the device controller willtypically not consume the full parallel bandwidth, so backgroundresources are typically executed on background resources withoutnoticeable delay. As defined here, “foreground services unit” refers toa structural association of hardware layers, stacks, and elements,including associated software or firmware, needed to perform foregroundcommands or routines; “background services unit” refers to a structuralassociation of hardware layers, stacks, and elements, includingassociated software or firmware, needed to perform background commandsor routines. For example, a foreground services unit may include adedicated memory for storing data such as call logs and voicemail and ahardware interface for accessing user services, whereas a backgroundservices unit may include transitory cache memory and other hardwareassigned when needed to perform a background task, and may not include adirect user interface.

“Upswitchingly transmitted” refers to a process that is generallyimplemented by software configured to organize hardware layers andstacks into a “soft switch” for detecting and receiving a message from aradiobeacon on a first radioset, and switching the message to a secondradioset for amplified transmission to a broad area network, typicallyan internetwork. Also involved in the switching is formatting themessage with a network preamble communicatively compatible with thebroad area network and adding any timestamp or geostamp generated by thenodal device. In some instances the “soft switch” may be implementedwith firmware but is generally conducted using hardware layers, stacks,and background resources under control of a software applicationinstalled on and implemented on the nodal device. Radio messages thatare normally discarded, those having no identifiable association with tothe owner of the nodal device are instead switched and “forwardbroadcast” to a broad area radioset for re-transmission at higher powerand are then discarded without sharing the contents with the owner ofthe nodal device, and without the knowledge of or active participationof the owner. Nodal devices having the software application, orotherwise being configured to perform the here described ‘softswitching’, are termed “community nodal devices”.

“Community nodal devices” are distinguished by the functionalities of asoftware application as installed and implemented in the device; theapplication organizes background services into a “soft switch” toupswitch messages received from community-associated radiobeacons,forwarding the messages to an internetworked cloud host server whileoperating in background on the device, and more particularly while notaccessing foreground services for decoding, displaying, aggregating, orstoring the message contents of the radiobeacon. Community nodal devicesare also configured to receive notifications from an internetworkedcloud host server and in some instances may be programmed to executefunctions in response to a command from the cloud host server. Thesoftware application and the cloud host server operate together insystems and methods of the invention.

“Timestamp” is an automated function performed as a background servicein most nodal devices. Each radio contact detected is assigned a recordhaving a time and date.

“Geostamp” is an optional function performed as a background service insome nodal devices. Each radio contact is assigned a record having adatum indicative of proximity to a known location, or a GPS coordinate.Radio signal strength at a particular frequency is generally indicativeof proximity. Cloud host servers may further refine location usingaggregated data. But geostamping is a nodal device function, much as acamera associates an image in memory with a location determined byaccessing GPS signals and making a calculation of latitude andlongitude, generally on a dedicated chip included in the device for thatpurpose.

“Registering”—refers to a programmed node action of storing a record ofa radio contact, a timestamp, optionally a geostamp, and/or at least onesensor datum in a memory module of a radiobeacon. Records in storage aregenerally retrievable, such as by accessing or searching a table or adatabase, for example, or other data retrieval systems known in the art.Records may also be uploaded to a higher layer in a network, such as toa server or other cloud-based service.

“Network”—refers to a whole world network (“internetwork”), a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WLAN), or a wired network (andcombinations thereof) having one or more nodes through which signals arereceived and processed or retransmitted. A conventional network may bewired or wireless, for example a Zigbee radio network or a BLUETOOTH®low energy radio network of devices that are linked by a handshakeprotocol. Networks are differentiated as to whether their wirelessemissions are low power and short range (i.e., “bluetoothed” and MANETnetworks) versus higher power and longer range as would be understood byone skilled in the art. Also included are telephone networks linked towireless networks, such as AIN (Advance Intelligent Network), MSTO(Mobile Switching Telephone Office, and PSTN (Public Switched TelephoneNetwork).

Mesh network—relates to a network having nodes capable of generatingsignals as well as relaying signals of others according to apeer-to-peer network. In a partial mesh network, some nodes areconnected to just one or two other nodes. Many mesh networks operateacross multiple radio bands. As known in the art, Firetide and WaveRelay mesh networks have the option to communicate node-to-node on 5.2GHz or 5.8 GHz, but communicate node to client on 2.4 GHz (802.11).These frequencies are both designated for low energy radio bands andthus are intended for local area and micro area networking, typicallywith a common owner.

Mobile ad hoc network—relates to a continuously self-configuringwireless population of mobile devices functioning as internetworkrouters for signal traffic; for example a MANET network, as known in theart, functions on top of standard internetwork linking protocolsestablished for the Internet and includes addressing capability toforward traffic from one mobile device to another through a wirelessnetwork according to rules governing traffic and parsimoniousutilization of nodes, where the owner of the network owns a controllinginterest in all network resources and teaches methods to exclude othersfrom using network resources.

“Owner”—is a user having ultimate control of a device that is part of anetwork. Control of an exemplary device in a network may be exclusivelyassigned to a single owner, or may be delegated or shared without lossof ownership according to permissions granted by the owner. Anowner-user is any entity having delegated or shared authority to controla device in part or in full, without determination of ultimate control.Control is generally determined by an owner in a first person sense, asbased on assignment of permissions as known in the art. Third personowners are affirmatively termed “anonymous users” or “operators” or“community members” sensu lato, without limitation and arenon-controlling of network operations conducted in background on theircommunity nodal devices.

“Sensor”—includes any device having a measurement function, eitherqualitative or quantitative, parametric or non-parametric. Generallythis includes, by example, sensors for temperature, motion, velocity,acceleration, jolt, pressure, humidity, windspeed, lightness, radiation,switch open/switch closed, and so forth. Also contemplated are sensorsfor vibration, magnetic field, gravity, gases such as methane, CO, CO₂,CBD vehicle performance indicia, QR sensors, aerosol particulate levels,history of sub-zero temperature, history of product over-temperature,analytes such as chemical or biological substances, and the like. Moregenerally some sensors can detect biological agents, biochemical agents,and/or chemical agents for example. Sensors also include radio devicesdesigned to detect radio traffic, such as a “ping” from a proximateradio device. Such sensors may detect relative signal strength; othersensors may be GPS sensors having a function of reporting a location orlocation specification data, and may combine data such as by registeringa radio contact, a time stamp and a location. Sensors may function astriggers when linked to an enabled device having instructions forreceiving and acting on a sensor output, where the machine is linked tothe sensor through a network having at least one node and at least onecloud host server.

“Hive”—may refer to a group of radiobeacons owned or controlled by acommon entity, such as an individual, a family, a private business, apublic institution, or any group having definable membership.

“Remote machine”—may be what is termed here an “effector machine”,indicating that the machine executes a physical transformation, such asa garage door opener, or what is termed here an “actuation device” moregenerally, indicating that the device may be a display for displayingcontent to a user, or may be enabled to recruit other machines anddevices to actuate performance of designated functions.

“Contextual content”—(also termed here, “environmental input”,“contextual data” or “stimulus input”) refers to any bit or message ofdata corresponding to a sensor output received by a processor fortransmission, and may include data related to temperature, lightintensity, smoke, voltage, sound, motion, displacement, acceleration,humidity, pressure, radiation, button-press event, compass direction, orto report daylight levels, traffic levels, history of sub-zerotemperature, history of product over-temperature, noise levels, NOXlevels, aerosol particulate levels, and unusual noises such as gunshotsor sirens, or self-reporting, such as reporting a low battery level, orother stimulus or sensor data, without limitation to these examplecontextual contents. In some instances a sensor is a switch having twopositions such that the datum is an indication that the switch has beentripped, such as a button switch when pressed, a photocell that has beentriggered by light, or a motion sensor that has been tripped by motion,and so forth. More sophisticated sensors may also be used, such asradiation detectors, chemical detectors, biological detectors, and sounddiscriminators, where the output may be relatively simple to representdigitally, but the sensor module itself is a complex analytical device.Sensors associated with radiobeacons may be used in clusters, such as toreport sets of data for temperature, humidity, windspeed and barometricpressure, or to report a clustermap of urban micro-local conditions suchas traffic levels, noise levels, NOX levels, and particulate levels,with map-pins showing unusual noises such as gunshots or sirens.Self-reporting, such as reporting a low battery level, is also includedin the scope of contextual data. Preferred sensors are miniaturized sothat they may be co-housed with the radio controller and emitter module.Generally the sensor module will include a controller for conditioningand digitizing the output and may include a microcontroller function forexecution of basic program steps, where the instruction set is storedon-board in non-volatile memory or as firmware, or is executed whenreceived by a radio receiver associated therewith. Contextual data mayalso be used to enable security features of the radiobeaconcommunications systems.

Contextual information for making rule-based decisions may be selectedfrom database associations with an identifier or identifiers, anytimestamp data, any proximity data, any geostamp data, any sensor data,or from associations deduced from aggregations of messages received froma defined local area in a defined duration of time, or from trendsdetected in a pool of all messages.

A “server” refers to a software engine or a computing machine on whichthat software engine runs, and provides a service or services to aclient software program running on the same computer or on othercomputers distributed over a network. A client software programtypically provides a user interface and performs some or all of theprocessing on data or files received from the server, but the servertypically maintains the data and files and processes the data requests.A “client-server model” divides processing between clients and servers,and refers to an architecture of the system that can be co-localized ona single computing machine or can be distributed throughout a network ora cloud.

“Computer” means a virtual or physical computing machine that acceptsinformation in digital or similar form and manipulates it for a specificresult based on a sequence of instructions.

“Computing machine” is used in a broad sense, and may include logiccircuitry having a processor, programmable memory or firmware, randomaccess memory, and generally one or more ports to I/O devices such as agraphical user interface, a pointer, a keypad, a sensor, imagingcircuitry, a radio or wired communications link, and so forth. One ormore processors may be integrated into the display, sensor andcommunications modules of an apparatus of the invention, and maycommunicate with other microprocessors or with a network via wireless orwired connections known to those skilled in the art. Processors aregenerally supported by static (programmable) and dynamic memory, atiming clock or clocks, and digital input and outputs as well as one ormore communications protocols. Computers are frequently formed intonetworks, and networks of computers may be referred to here by the term“computing machine”. In one instance, informal internet networks knownin the art as “cloud computing” may be functionally equivalent computingmachines, for example.

“Processor” refers to a digital device that accepts information indigital form and manipulates it for a specific result based on asequence of programmed instructions. Processors are used as parts ofdigital circuits generally including a clock, random access memory andnon-volatile memory (containing programming instructions), and mayinterface with other digital devices or with analog devices through I/Oports, for example.

General connection terms including, but not limited to “connected”,“attached,” “conjoined,” “secured,” and “affixed” are not meant to belimiting, such that structures so “associated” may have more than oneway of being associated. “Fluidly connected” indicates a connection forconveying a fluid therethrough. “Digitally connected” indicates aconnection in which digital data may be conveyed therethrough.“Electrically connected” indicates a connection in which units ofelectrical charge are conveyed therethrough.

Relative terms should be construed as such. For example, the term“front” is meant to be relative to the term “back,” the term “upper” ismeant to be relative to the term “lower,” the term “vertical” is meantto be relative to the term “horizontal,” the term “top” is meant to berelative to the term “bottom,” and the term “inside” is meant to berelative to the term “outside,” and so forth. Unless specifically statedotherwise, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and “fourth” are meantsolely for purposes of designation and not for order or for limitation.Reference to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or an “aspect,” meansthat a particular feature, structure, step, combination orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect isincluded in at least one realization of the present invention. Thus, theappearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment and may apply to multiple embodiments.Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics of theinvention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or moreembodiments.

“Adapted to” includes and encompasses the meanings of “capable of” andadditionally, “designed to”, as applies to those uses intended by thepatent. In contrast, a claim drafted with the limitation “capable of”also encompasses unintended uses and misuses of a functional elementbeyond those uses indicated in the disclosure, referencing Aspex Eyewearv Marchon Eyewear 672 F3d 1335, 1349 (Fed Circ 2012). “Configured to”,as used here, is taken to indicate is able to, is designed to, and isintended to function in support of the inventive structures, and is thusmore stringent than “enabled to” or “capable of”.

It should be noted that the terms “may,” “can,” and “might” are used toindicate alternatives and optional features and only should be construedas a limitation if specifically included in the claims.

The various components, features, steps, or embodiments thereof are all“preferred” whether or not specifically so indicated. Claims notincluding a specific limitation should not be construed to include thatlimitation. For example, the term “a” or “an” as used in the claims doesnot exclude a plurality.

“Conventional” refers to a term or method designating that which isknown and commonly understood in the technology to which this inventionrelates.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims that follow, the term “comprise” and variations thereof, such as,“comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open, inclusivesense—as in “including, but not limited to.”

The appended claims are not to be interpreted as includingmeans-plus-function limitations, unless a given claim explicitly evokesthe means-plus-function clause of 35 USC §112 para (f) by using thephrase “means for” followed by a verb in gerund form.

A “method” as disclosed herein refers to one or more steps or actionsfor achieving the described end. Unless a specific order of steps oractions is required for proper operation of the embodiment, the orderand/or use of specific steps and/or actions may be modified withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Radiobeacon data sharing for triggering remote machine action isrealized using proximity-actuated soft switches and system networkarchitecture. Messages from radiobeacons containing sensor data outputare upswitchedly transmitted to a cloud host server of an internetwork(uniformly referenced in the drawings as cloud host 1000). Nodal devicesare configured to function as soft switches by an installed“application” typically run as software. The soft switch function allowsthe nodal device to upswitch signals received from a low energyradiobeacon to a “whole world” or “broad area” network in amplified formand in a communicatively compatible format for reception by a cloud hostserver. In the cloud host server, a response is initiated according torules and policies established by the owner of the radiobeacon and/or bythe administrator of the system. The response may be a command to actionor a notification transmitted to a remote machine.

The cloud host server receives radiobeacon output from compatible “nodaldevices” in proximity to the radiobeacon. Put another way, theradiobeacon recruits compatible nodal devices based on proximity, not byownership, where proximity is defined by radio signal strength emittedby the radiobeacon. With low energy radiosets, as currently practiced,proximity for effective radio transmission has a limit of about 150feet, and location can be defined by relative signal strength. Proximitymay be further refined by GPS location of the nodal device relative tothe radiobeacon (i.e., a geostamp supplied by the nodal device), or by acalculation that involves aggregating data received by the cloud hostserver and assigning contacts a location based on history of proximityto one or more radiobeacons having known locations. Radiobeacons havingfixed or otherwise known locations are generally indicated here in thedrawings by a “star”; mobile radiobeacons may be indicated by a roundbody or may be incorporated in any of the smart devices depicted, manyof which emulate beacon function or can be converted into a radiobeaconby installing a software application of the invention.

Broadcasts are termed “messages” because they preferredly include a“data payload” having output from a sensor or sensor package associatedwith the radiobeacon. On receipt, a compatible nodal device willregister the message and add a timestamp (and a geostamp whenavailable). Conventionally this information is then discarded if thenodal device determines that no policy or rule associates the messagewith the owner of the device; however, by installing an application ofthe invention in a nodal device, the nodal device acquires capability toaccess a cloud host of the invention, and message policies will includeinstructions for processing and rebroadcasting third-party messages inbackground (but where the message contents remain anonymous, occult, andencoded so that the owner of the “proxy” device is not notified orpermitted access to the message contents without special permissions).At the end of the upswitching process, no record of the contents of themessage can be retrieved from the proxy nodal device and encryption maybe used as known in the art to ensure privacy, whereby only the cloudhost server will decrypt the message. The broadcast forward, however,includes the original data payload of the message, a timestamp asreceived, and a network address for the cloud host, so that it can berouted to the cloud host server. Based on ownership of the radiobeaconas determined from the original message contents, and on sensor data inthe message, along with any contextual information that is relevant, thecloud host server accesses a database or instruction sets, determines auser preference or an administrative preference for some appropriateaction in response, and initiates the pre-configured action, forinstance, instructing a remote machine or machine system to execute anaction that the owner has requested according to the time, place,context, and/or any condition reported in the sensor data.

In other instances, the cloud host server will take collectivelybeneficial action, such as by sharing a map showing aggregated dataindicating updated traffic conditions, or alerting users according totheir profile of any events of interest. The actions can range fromcalling an emergency operator in the event that the radiobeacon detectsand reports data consistent with a vehicle accident or injury, oractuating a camera, or lowering a window in an overheated vehicle, orunlocking a car without using a key, helping a user find their lostkeychain with their cellphone, helping find their lost cellphone (usingthe radiobeacon in the cellphone) with their keychain, or displaying amap having an overlayer of aggregated local microarea weather datacollected from multiple radiobeacon sensors by intermittenttransmissions from nodal devices. Other examples are demonstrated below.

Unlike common commercial radiobeacons designed to emit cannednotifications according to user or merchant input, the preferredradiobeacons include at least one sensor unit and an encoder fortransmitting sensor output in a formatted message that is understood bythe cloud host server. Data structures for transmitting sensor data inlow energy radio signals will be described in detail below.

The transmissions from community-shared nodal devices may bepromiscuous, and generally occur in background services on the nodaldevice, utilizing only a small fraction of the nodal device capability,and thus the application operates in background essentially as a networkswitch for particular radio contacts, recruiting hardware as needed toamplify, relay and route the message from a local low energy radioemitter, through a broad area radioset of the device, and a defined IPaddress of a cloud host server. The nodal device has two radiosets, anduses lower link layers to add a timestamp (and optionally a geostamp)when switching the data from a low energy radio receiver to anamplifier/transceiver, and formats the message according to acceptedcommunications protocols for each radioset, but does not otherwiseprocess the data for display or storage. In short, the application doesnot provide for foreground display or access to the message. Thus datatransmission is opportunistic but also discreet.

In some instances, a radio emission by a nodal device, such as acellphone station ping, will actuate emission of sensor data from aradiobeacon sensor package in response. In other instances, theradiobeacon will intermittently emit a message according to currentconditions or according to a regular schedule, and any compatible nodaldevice that receives the signal will execute the broadcast forwardcapability installed as part of the application. The application forrecognizing the message, switching the data, and assigning resources toamplify, route, and rebroadcast the message runs in background and isgenerally installed on the nodal device from a distribution server or byother download services. In this way, users having nodal devices mayshare resources needed to switch lower level radiobeacon transmissionsonto a network through which a shared cloud host server can receive thetransmission. All users benefit by services provided by the cloud hostserver. These include accessing locations of lost objects (objects, orpets, to which a radiobeacon may be attached), monitoring ambientconditions, receiving notifications of adverse conditions, aggregatesharing of local events, remote notification of home alarms, and reducedinsurance risk, for example.

Also, the application may be installed with a feature to convert thenodal device into a radiobeacon and to harness the network clock in thehardware. A message may then be broadcast to a cloud host server inbackground with a network timestamp and a sensor data payload asconfigured by the user, such as accelerometry, motion sensing, andlocation data, each datum with a timestamp, and may be accessed byowners seeking a lost cellphone or mobile device, for example, on whichthe application is installed. Community smart devices fitted with thecorresponding software, upon encountering a local broadcast of anydevice, will report the radio contact to the cloud host server, if theradiobeacon has been tagged as lost the server will flag the contact forspecial processing, and will correlate contact information from multiplehits so as to issue a report or periodic notifications tracking the lostdevice.

Owners of radiobeacons may also access their own smart device, where“smart device” is taken broadly as any device capable of functioningunder control of a software “application” of the invention. In responseto a signal from a radiobeacon, amplified and upswitched to a broad arearadioset by the smart device—where the owner of the radiobeacon hasconfigured the server to execute a command to a remote machine, such asa camera, a cellphone, a garage door, or a panic alarm, for example, oreven the smart device itself—a physical act results. Thus a smart devicesuch as an iOS or Android-enabled cellphone becomes a platform foroperating and controlling one or more remote machines according to rulesestablished by an owner of the radiobeacon and implemented through thecloud host.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an exemplary application of a system 10 ofthe invention for campus security. An example of the system in use ispresented as an introductory demonstration. While described generally asa series of steps, the underlying system and network structure, devicesand components are also described in the figures that follow.

In this example, an owner 11 of a pocket radiobeacon 12 actuates aswitch, causing the switch output to go “high”. This is essentially asensor having two values, HIGH and LOW. When HIGH, the radiobeacon istriggered to emit a message having the device UUID and a data payloadincluding the sensor value “HIGH”. The device has limited computingpower, but advantageously readily transmits simple messages with justthe press of a button. Thus it is well suited as a “panic button” inthis example, where HIGH triggers a system response. Advantageously, theowner of the radiobeacon does not need a cellphone in hand to access thesystem. The radiobeacon is lightweight and convenient and can bepocketed on a keychain for example or pinned to a jacket.

Here owner 11 encounters a hazard or is in danger, and in a first step1, actuates a pocket radiobeacon 12 to summon help. Because theradiobeacon has limited radio range, the message cannot be directlyported to a broad area internetwork. However, in step 2, a communitynodal device 14 in the possession of a passing stranger 13, is able todetect the radio transmission and upswitch the message to a cloud hostserver 1000 as shown in steps 3 and 4. The community nodal device 14 isprogrammed with a software application of the invention; the applicationfunctions in background to a) amplify the transmission, b) attach arouter-compatible forwarding address, and c) broadcast forward themessage, routing information, including a timestamp, and optionallyincluding a geostamp.

Using the UUID, the cloud host server 1000 identifies owner 11 in anadministrative database. Using contextual information, such as proximityto radiobeacons having locations known to the system, or locationinformation generated by community nodal device 14, the cloud hostserver makes a rules-based decision 5 to cause a first responder to bedispatched to the scene 6, and/or to issue a general notification 7 toall members of a community 8. Lighting in or around the owner's positionmay also be increased 9 or strobed to signify that help is on the wayand surveillance cameras can be switched to live feed. These functionscan be automated through the cloud host server or semi-automated toinclude interactive displays and a human operator. Other alarms may alsobe actuated.

Generally, community nodal device 14 is a “smart device” havingapplication instructions for operating a soft switch for switchingmessages between two radiosets of the nodal device, the radiosetsoperating on radio networks or “bands” that are otherwise not connected.Generally one is a low energy radioset for generating, sending andreceiving a radiobeacon signal having a UUID and one or more optionalframes. The other radioset in the nodal device is a broad area radiotransceiver that transmits an amplified broadcast forward to aninternetwork transceiver or portal. The executable instructions for thesoft switch are installed by loading the inventive application onto thenodal device, as from a distribution server or other downloading servicesuch as a near field communications port, and are generally memoryresident in the smart device. Notifications are sent to individualpersonal smart devices 8 a operated by members of the community (if thedevices have been configured with the software application), and thus abenefit is provided to all community members. The reciprocalresponsibility is that those same smart devices become communityresources for upswitchingly transmitting radiobeacon messages belongingto others to the cloud host server. Because the sharing functions occurin background, little expense and no effort is incurred by the communityas individuals, and again because the messages are handled inbackground, no display or storage of the messages is permitted. Ownersof beacons can use the system with a reasonable expectation of privacysuch that the operator of the system establishes policies in whichcertain information (including owner identification and sensor datapayload) will not be shared unless contextually relevant or is presentedas de-identified aggregate data. Alternatively, notifications may besent to a select list of “friends” identified by the owner of thebeacon, and for whom the appropriate permissions have been implementedon the cloud host server.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an exemplary network and system 20 of asecond embodiment of the invention. A system is shown having aradiobeacon 21 with edge-mounted touch button 21 a and a nodal device(here a community nodal device 14) in a first location 23, a cloud hostserver 1000, and in a remote location 24, an actuation device 25 (here afriend's smartphone), a remote machine 2000, and a second actuabledevice 3000. Bold arrows indicate radio contacts; a dashed lineindicates an optional configuration. Software for coordinating thesystem and network architecture is installed in the radiobeacon 21, thenodal device 14, the cloud host server, in actuation devices 25 and inmachines or actuable devices (2000, 3000) as needed. Generally actuationdevices 25 function as clients of cloud host 1000 when executingcommands. The system thus has three functional blocks, aradiobeacon-nodal device pair (23, dashed box), a cloud host 1000, anddownstream actuation cluster (24, dashed box) having one or moreactuation devices 25 and associated effector machines. Actuation ofmachine functions may involve generating a display, closing a switch,powering down a machine, triggering an output, and so forth. Actuationmay be controlled directly from the cloud host, or may involve anintermediate downstream controller as represented here by smartphone25). The radiobeacon 21 and the controller 25 may belong to an owner anda friend, for example, whereas community nodal device 14 may belong to athird party member of the community, acting anonymously in background.In other circumstances, device 25 may play the role of community nodaldevice in transmitting messages from yet another radiobeacon (not shown)to the cloud host, the yet another radiobeacon belonging to yet anotherthird party, and so forth. Thus network and computing resources areshared equitably based on a principle of “mutual reciprocity”.

By limiting exchange of data between background and foreground resourcesof a nodal device, messages can be upswitched for redirection onto thehigher power radioset of the nodal device without compromising theprivacy of the owner of the radiobeacon from which the messageoriginates. Messages are encoded in the radiobeacon and may be furtherencrypted by methods known in the art for some applications.

Embodiments of the radiobeacons of the invention are configurable by anindividual user to help solve various problems, such as finding lostobjects, monitoring pets or the activities of small children, hospitalpatients, and so forth. The radiobeacon is a comprehensive solution tolocate and track missing pets, people, luggage, inventory, tools anditems of interest tagged with a radiobeacon, and may also be used toalert users when there is a sensor output change, such as a very suddenjolt. In preferred embodiments the radiobeacon incorporates varioussensors and control mechanisms that make the radiobeacon a versatilemulti-function device which can remotely control other devices such assmartphones, tablets, or computers through the network 20, indirectlythrough a community nodal device 14 as shown here, or directly asdisclosed in earlier filed U.S. patent Ser. No. 14/301,236, filed 10Jun. 2014, titled “Tracking Device System”. The exemplary system 20illustrated here is instrumental in shaping and creating a market forthe “internet of things” by allowing a user or network of users toseamlessly share sensor data and control remote devices, also offeringthe capacity to provide a regional, local, or global “picture” ofenvironmental conditions such as temperature, traffic, and trends in aparticular area, or simply a collaborative picture of all tagged dogsand cats active in a particular city neighborhood, venue or locale at aspecific time, for example. The device functions with asingle-button>multifunction interface (SBMFI) (e.g., single button 21a—operates to control command response based on rules linked to buttonpress patterns, long, short, duplexed and operated with Booleanstatements about other variables, such as time of day, day length, userprofile, and weather forecast, for example, and go on from there). Thetree can also be built with more trunks, each a button press on akeypad. In a keypad, more complex patterns can be encrypted, levels maybe established, favorites may be encoded, all with only a rudimentaryfeedback pattern of confirmation, an LED as a mouseover (with thefinger), a capacitive screen, a zoom gesture, and the like. Of course,browser screens could be the greatest return but the radiobeacon itselfis intended as a lean selection of essential components for the neededpower to performance ratio, so a minimalist approach is favored. Anotherapproach is to add a companion and/or co-computing locus that includes amore expansive user interface (see FIGS. 14-18), and achieve a level ofcomplex simplicity in operation of low energy network clusters andcommunities. Both approaches offer substantial advantages to the user,as does the SBMFI approach.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an exemplary network and system of a thirdembodiment 30 of the invention. In this view, community nodal devices 31and 32 relay messages from local area 33 (in which generally stationaryradiobeacons indicated by stars 34, 35, 36 are positioned), to cloudhost server 1000. Depending on the message, an actuation device 25 at aremote location 38 may be used to actuate machines 2000 and 3000.Alternatively, remote machine 2000 may be capable of directly receivingcommands from the cloud host server (dashed arrow). The system usesbackground resources to carry radio traffic without using foregroundresources of community nodal devices (31, 32) during radio encounterswith any proximate radiobeacons (34,35,36). Because the messages are allshort and condensed data structures that can be interpreted at lowermachine levels, no inconvenience to user's results, and “system load”rebalancing is minimal. In network embodiment 30, nodal devices forwardbroadcast signals from multiple radiobeacon devices, as shown here, eachmessage (parallel arrows) being separated from the next and beingdiscarded after processing and transmission to the cloud host 1000.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an exemplary network and system of afourth embodiment 40 of the invention. In this embodiment, stationaryradiobeacon (41,42,43) traffic is relayed through an ad hoc network ofnodal devices (44,45) in the local area 46. The radio messages areparsed by a cloud server 1000, and commands or notifications aretransmitted to multiple remote recipients. In each instance, the commandcan result in machine actuation (2000,3000) or in a display 47 at remotelocations 48 a, 48 b, 48 c, respectively. Actuation device 25 functionsas a remote controller for machine 2000. The cloud host directlycontrols machine 3000. Thus the system and network architecture uses acombination of radiobeacons and smart devices to manage tasks formultiple owners and community members.

In this instance, messages from radiobeacons can be relayed in a seriesof hops from a first nodal device 44 to a second nodal device 45, but atsome point are picked up by a broad area internetwork portal and routedto cloud host server 1000. A plurality of radiobeacons, a plurality ofnodal devices, a plurality of cloud servers, and a plurality of machineeffectors or actuation devices may be involved in any active systemcluster 40.

FIGS. 5A and 5B (two paired sheets) show a block diagram of a moregeneral method of deploying and using an exemplary system of theinvention. Represented in a first box (dashed outline) are rudimentaryfunctional blocks (50 a,50 b,50 c) corresponding to sensor measurement,initialization, and broadcast from radiobeacon 50. In step 50 a, asensor output is generated. Typically the sensor is an on-board sensorunit or a sensor package. These steps may be repeated at any intervaldictated by the needs of the user and by context, or may be initiatedcybernetically in response to a trigger such as a change in a sensorvalue above a threshold. Current generations of radiobeacons maybroadcast messages at ten millisecond intervals, thirty secondintervals, or any convenient time—as when in proximity to a nodaldevice, for example, and operate as limited resource computing devicescapable of simple repetitive actions.

“To measure” (i.e., “measuring”) is an operation 50 a having the qualityof digitizing a contextual condition or event and can be as simple as astep for determining whether a button is pressed and held or not, or anoperation such as collecting and digitizing a photocell output, whichmay include steps for amplifying and filtering as needed, or morecomplex operations such as providing a memory component and instructionsfor determining a measurement change over an interval of time.

The measurement data is then incorporated into a message through aninitialization operation 50 b in which a preamble and any messageformatting is performed. The broadcast is then sent 50 c via a lowenergy radio module, and the process is iterated as needed or directed.Compatible devices in radio proximity may receive and decode themeasurement data in the radio broadcast 50 d.

The sensor unit or package is in electrical contact with circuits forbasic processor functions and program execution. A simple processor mayfunction as an “encoder” for initializing a message, in which a digitalradio signal is “loaded” with the sensor data while conforming to anunderlying radio communications protocol format (as disclosed earlier inU.S. Prov. Pat. No. 62/175,141 filed 12 Jun. 2015 titled “Devices andNetwork Architecture for Improved Radiobeacon Mediated Data ContextSensing”, which is co-assigned and co-pending). A radio emission by aradiobeacon that carries a sensor data payload is termed a “message”.

Next in the figure, nodal device (51, dashed outline) is represented asa series of functional blocks, including steps for transmitting a“broadcast forward” 53 containing the message to a cloud-basedadministrative server or cloud host 1000 (continuing in FIG. 5B). Thenodal device includes a transceiver for scanning 51 a and receiving lowenergy radio signals. The scan function is represented as an iterativeloop 51 b. When a qualifying radiobeacon message is detected (YES), thesignal is timestamped 51 c and optionally geostamped 51 d.

If owner identification information associated with the radiobeaconmessage is associated with the owner of the nodal device (51 e, YES),the message is conveyed to foreground services for immediate action orprocessing. The message is processed, stored in memory 51 g, and anyaction appropriate for the message is taken. The process of scanning 51a and capturing 51 b radio transmissions repeats.

If not (51 e, NO), software of the invention preempts normal operationof a nodal device, which is to discard unrecognized signals. Instead ofdiscarding the message, the message is preempted and processed inbackground services 51 h. Background services are an ad hoc organizationof hardware resources needed to shunt or “upswitch” the message to abroad area network radio transmitter for broadcast forward. Preemptionis triggered when the radio signal is identified by a softwareapplication of the invention as a message from a qualified radiobeaconbut the ownership of the message is not recognized by the nodal device.

Beginning at 51 h, those messages not meeting the common owner test 51 eare handled anonymously in background services. The message is switched51 i to a communications layer or stack in the device, initialized 51 jfor broadband transmission to an internetwork-compatible receiver, andforward broadcast at 51 k. The message is then discarded and the processends 51 m by clearing background resources. This process, includingstructuring of a “soft switch” at 51 i, is directed by a softwareapplication supplied to users of the inventive system. Soft switch 51 iswitches the message from a low energy radioset in the nodal device to abroad area radioset in the nodal device, the latter operating withprotocol communicatively compatible with an internetwork portal andnetwork architecture. End function 51 m is generally conducted byexisting machine functionality in the nodal device. Nodal devices areconstructed to discard (i.e., “dump”) unrecognized low energy radiosignals and to record and store owner-recognized radio signals in memoryfor processing. A variety of permissions and policies control the “dump”function. The software applications of the invention are executed so asto preempt and re-route signals recognized by the application as“messages” to soft switch 51 i. The soft switch has been created tobroadcast forward those messages to a designated cloud host server.Although the nodal device 51 discards and clears the message from localresources at 51 m, the forward broadcast 53 is transmitted at 51 k tonetwork 1000 for processing.

Furthermore, if foreground services are not responsive (51 f, NO), thenthe message may be processed in background services in the same way asan anonymous message. The nodal device can be programmed so that ownerwill receive a push notification, including a command to open a screenon the user interface, depending on priority and context associated withthe owner's identification or preset instructions as known to the cloudhost. Essentially the owner gets a second opportunity to receive and seethe message from a co-owned radiobeacon. Alternatively, even if theowner is unresponsive, the cloud host may be preconfigured to aggregatethe message contents, such as any sensor payload, for later retrieval.The cloud host has access to other messages, and may also aggregatemessage 53 with messages from other community members, forming a largerpicture that the owner of the radiobeacon can later access.

Forward broadcast 53 is captured by an internetwork portal and routed asper standard IP protocols to a designated cloud host 1000 operated bythe system administrator. Each incoming message is parsed for content,including owner identifiers, sensor content, including any locationinformation derived from the radiobeacon (many are in fixed locations)or from a geostamp applied by the nodal device. Location may be furtherdeduced by the server from a pattern of contacts of nodal device 51 withproximate radiobeacons or nodal devices having geostamping capabilitythat emulate radiobeacons.

Cloud host server (dashed box, 55) is a fully resourced computingenvironment for establishing rules-based policies and permissions. Theserver includes user accounts and at least one database 54 for storingowner information, parsing incoming messages, and processing oraggregating data. Aggregated data is used in making context-baseddecisions on behalf of individual users or on behalf of user communitiesaccording to rules established by the community and the systemadministrator.

The cloud host server may be accessed with a graphical user interface orthrough an application program interface, and includes an administrativeinterface for maintenance, subscription management, and qualityassurance. Typically the server is accessible through a dedicated website, and may be able to publish and transmit web pages to individualusers or communities of users in response to a query or command.Relational databases may include user profiles and aggregated data andmay be dis-identified to protect identities of individuals where releaseof that level of detail is inappropriate. The system may also include adistribution server for installing the software application, which willtypically include instructions for upswitching community messages andinstructions for pushing notifications and for accessing theadministrative server for account setup and maintenance.

The broadcast forward 53 is first parsed 55 a for owner identifiers,sensor data in the original message payload, and any timestamp orgeostamp in the broadcast. If the originating radiobeacon is owned by aco-owner of a nodal device (55 b, YES), a command response ornotification 56 may be initiated directly to the owner through either awireless IP mode or a landline. If the sensor data is such as to actuatea trigger 55 c for a defined action, the command response 56 will begiven accordingly, either as a command or a notification. If anycontext, including the realtime merger of events and conditions thatenvelop the message, dictates 55 d a modified decision, the response 56will reflect the context to the extent permitted by policies establishedby the owner of the beacon and any global policies or prohibitionsexercised by the administrator of the system. Messages may be re-routedas appropriate. While not shown, more than one internetwork server maybe recruited for making a response. Thus the cloud host has thecapacity, for example, to perform searches and to incorporate searchdata before issuing a command or notification 56.

Communications with client devices and machines are frequentlybidirectional. Responses may be logged and stored 55 e along with theinitial commands and notifications for later retrieval, for use intracking lost items, and for other aggregative uses. Several examples ofapplied uses are provided at the close of this section. The cloud hostserver will generally complete a process of responding to an incomingmessage and then stop 55 f until another message arrives, but may beprogrammed to refresh its command executions at desired intervals, orwhen conditions change, or on selected calendar dates, for example. Thusthe location of a friend can be reported on the occasion of a birthday,for example. The uses increase exponentially as the internet of things(IOT) expands.

In a final step, illustrated in dashed box 57, the cloud host server 55transmits or otherwise conveys an actuation instruction 56 to a machineeffector and/or actuation device (indicated collectively in exemplaryvariants). The instruction 56 may be conveyed to an “effector machine”or an “actuation device”. These are generally smart machines having alimited but sufficient level of signal recognition and computingcapability to perform a transformation in a physical sense, such asopening a garage door, turning off a stove, steering a driverlessvehicle to a preselected destination, updating a display to show a map,or initiating a telephone call to an emergency responder when a strongjolt is detected by an accelerometer and gyroscope sensor package, andso forth. In some instances the cloud host administrator will reserveaction, or will aggregate data over time or geographical area beforeinitiating an action. These and other features allow the operator of thesystem flexibility to initiate actions according to a broad range ofcontextual information and to learn by observing historical,geographical, and diurnal patterns, for example.

Effectors and actuators 57 include remote machines 3000, that may beoperated directly as described already, or indirectly through acontroller 4000, and may also include smart actuation devices 25generally, whether addressed to individuals or to communities of users,and may also include other types of actuator devices 2000, where theobject is to take an action and end 57 b until further instructions arereceived. Chains of active machines having a sequence of actuation mayalso be engineered using the systems and network architectures of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a bit diagram showing the digital structure of a first message60 a and a second message 60 b streamed in series, the two parts makingup a full radio message 60. The second message includes a sensor payload64, repeats major and minor values (62,63), but does not repeat earlierbroadcast identifier 61. In this example, a radiobeacon is configured toemit an extended message that includes its UUID (61, generally a unique128-bit word registering the make, model, and serial number of theradiobeacon device, as is sufficient to assign ownership), any major andminor values (62, 63), as can be indicative of location, sub-location,including owner secondary identifiers, generally in a highly structuredformat. The bracketed frames are representative of digitized data asformatted in a bluetoothed message. Sensor payload 64 may be transmittedin a second message 60 b, shown here as a sensor value having sixteenbits in a frame in this example. Added sensor data may be streamed byappending concatenated message parts formatted as shown. The bits arenumbered for illustration, but any number of bits in a frame arecontemplated, including bits from 4 to 8 to 16 to 32 to 64 withoutlimitation thereto. The bitstrings of each frame may be organized asbytes, but are more typically termed “values”. Additional frames may beused, as indicated by an ellipsis at the lower right, to streamadditional data. Added serial messages may be streamed each for examplewith realtime sensor data or with data from other components of thesensor package housed in the beacon. Alternatively, sensor data may be“stuffed” into the primary frames of the first message as illustratedand discussed with reference to FIG. 19.

Communications must follow a format standard. Bluetoothed format is onesuch coding language. In some variants, the host device or base stationis configured to transmit relevant configuration information to theradiobeacon in order to tell that radiobeacon specifically whatconfiguration of command language is needed. This can be implicit (e.g.,the nodal device receives the preamble and UUID values received from theradiobeacon and enters a database or other source of information todetermine a proper command protocol for the various subsystems of thatparticular radiobeacon, or explicit (e.g., where the radiobeaconexplicitly instructs the nodal device what protocol to use, or evenprovides a communication properly formatted and with an appropriatepreamble so that the receiving device is prompted to run a particularapplication in order to invoke the desired message handling operations.For example, radio emitters may be designed to emit radio signalsaccording to a bluetoothed low energy interface standard and/or aniBeaconed communication protocol standard as known in the art, and mayalso be configured to emit radio signals according to data structures ofthe inventive network architectures and software applications.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram of functional components of a“limited-computing-resource” radiobeacon (dashed box, 70) and acompatible nodal device (dashed box, 71) in one-way radio communicationwhere indicated by arrow 72. Typical nodal devices are provided with aprocessor 71 a and an “application” (*, indicating residentprocessor-compatible instructions in memory 71 b) for receiving radiosignal 72 and for upswitching it to a transceiver 71 c having power andfrequency configured for broad area radio transmission to a cloud host1000, also termed here a “broadcast forward”.

Radio emitter module 70 a of the radiobeacon loads sensor data fromsensor unit 70 b into a radio signal and emits message 72 on antenna 70c. The loading function may be performed by a software encoderprogrammed within the emitter module, which functions as amicrocontroller with on-board non-volatile and volatile memory (notshown). The message is configured to contain an identifier value (UUID)and a payload of digital sensor data. Optionally one or more of thesensor data values may be insertedly encoded in the standard frames of abluetoothed low energy radio protocol by overloading a frame as isdescribed later with reference to FIG. 19. The encoder function may beintegrated into the radio emitter module and is implemented usingsoftware or firmware or a combination of both. Radiobeacons may bebattery powered or otherwise powered as known in the art.

Typically these radiobeacons will operate at about 2.4 GHz or/and about5 GHz, depending on the jurisdiction. For most purposes, only the 2.4GHz band is used, and the two bands will be considered to be “one band”dedicated to bluetoothed protocols unless otherwise distinguished. Withrespect to nodal devices, multiple bands may be available forcommunicating to a broad area network through any compatibletelecommunications system, including cellphone networks, and wirednetworks, or combinations thereof. These multipotent networking deviceswill be considered to be operating with one broad area frequency orband, merely for conceptual simplicity, the details of which may varywith regulatory jurisdiction.

In the networks of the invention, a soft switch configured in a nodaldevice by a software application of the invention provides the neededmachine configuration to upswitch radio signals from a bluetoothed lowenergy radioset to a broad area radioset. The software is configured tofacilitate sharing of radiobeacon signals with nodal devices that inturn may “upswitchingly transmit” data received from the radiobeacon toa broader network (optionally including multiple nodal devices), andthus serves as a mobile access point for forward broadcasting ofmessages to the Internet at large. In special circumstances, radiosignals may be “downswitched” from a broad area radioset to abluetoothed low energy radioset equipped with a receiver.

Nodal device 71, shown here schematically, switches signal 72 to alonger range transceiver 71 c and network for delivery to cloud host1000. The nodal device may include the following functional blocks:transceiver(s) 71 c; processor 71 a, memory 71 b, foreground services 71d (often a mix of software and firmware); a user interface 71 e; andbackground services 71 f. Background services typically involve commandsand function calls to lower machine and link level stacks or routinesbuilt into the machine hardware, typically lacking any direct userinterface capacity. The device also includes two antennae: 71 g and 71h. Antenna 71 g receives signals 72 from low energy radiobeacon 70.Antenna 71 g may also emit beacon-like signals advertising its ownproximity. Antenna 71 h is a higher power, broad area antenna configuredfor sending and receiving signals to a cloud host, and may use wirelesssystems or a cell tower network at radio frequency bands asjurisdictionally established. Additional antennas may be used asrequired and in some instances may be successfully combined in a singleantenna package.

The switch is typically a “soft switch” and is implemented by software(*) executed by the processor of the nodal device using backgroundresources. However, firmware may be used to supplant or supplementsoftware in devices having integrated circuits capable of automating therequired instruction set in a solid state pattern of logic gates andmemory circuits. An ASIC is particularly favored for larger volumedeployments of community nodal devices, but software is favored forinstalling into existing network and devices or when periodicacross-network updates are anticipated.

At the cloud host 1000, generally the sensor data is extracted from themessage using software developed to administer user needs. Relationaldatabases may also be used to store data and detect changes or trends inthe data. Based on ownership privileges, rules-based instructions, andcontext, the cloud host server will transmit a signal to a remotemachine 2000 or other actuation device as warranted.

Nodal device 71 may be a stationary “hub” or a mobile device such as asmartphone and may be equipped with a portal to the Internet, aninternetwork, a wide area network, or a local area network with Internetoption, either wired or wireless; in this instance a wirelesstransceiver with antenna 71 h is shown. Hubs are described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/301,236, said patent application beingco-assigned and co-pending. Processor 71 a is configured to read andexecute an application (*) or applications from non-volatile memory 71 band to receive and process the radio signal 72 as received on antenna 71g and amplified by transceiver 71 c. Depending on the contents of theradio signal, particularly with respect to any contextual data encodedin the signal or known to the system, the processor will issue aninstruction. For example, if co-ownership is recognized by the system,the foreground services unit 71 d will push an alert or a notificationonto the user interface 71 e. This is often the case for hubinstallations in a private home or office. The device may also include apolicy controller that controls foreground functions according topermissions set by the user.

The sensor unit or package 70 b may include one or more sensors. Sensoroutput to be encoded in a frame or frames for transmission may includetemperature, light intensity, smoke, voltage, sound, motion,displacement, acceleration, humidity, pressure, radiation, button-pressevent, compass direction, daylight levels, traffic levels, noise levels,NOX levels, ODB reports, and unusual noises such as gunshots or sirens,or self-reporting, such as reporting a low battery level, or otherstimulus or sensor data, without limitation thereto. In someembodiments, sensor data may also include a combined multi-axis motionsensor and temperature sensor integrated into a BTLE radio emissionmodule 70 a, which includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and amagnetometer for each axis. Sensor power is commonly derived from thehost, but in selected applications, a separate power supply may beprovided.

FIG. 7B depicts a more complex system with a radiobeacon (top, 80) andthe nodal device (bottom, 71) described in FIG. 7A. In this instance,however, both the radiobeacon and the nodal device have capacity toexecute program instructions and have bidirectional radio capabilityrepresented by radio signal 73 (double headed arrow). The radiobeacon isconfigured with added processing capacity 80 a, including a dedicatedsignal encoder 80 b, non-volatile memory capacity 80 c for storing aninstruction set, and an independent power supply. The radiobeacon isalso provided with a sensor unit or package 80 d. The radio module 80 eof the radiobeacon is for example a bluetoothed low energy radiotransceiver and is adapted to convert radiobeacon identifier and sensordata from sensor unit 80 d to a transmission “message” using encoder 80b. Signals may be transiently stored in volatile memory as needed. Oneor more receive and/or transmit amplifiers may optionally be used toamplify signals received or sent, as known in the art, but thetransceiver is typically a low energy transceiver as used here toadvantage for qualifying radio contacts limited to a discreet localarea.

Both the radiobeacon and the nodal device include a radio transceiver(80 e, 71 c) capable of receiving and transmitting low energy radiosignals, but the nodal device includes a second radioset 71 c fortransmitting and receiving at higher power over a wireless wide areanetwork. While each device includes compatible antenna (80 c, 71 g) forlow power inter-communication; the nodal device will also include alonger range antenna 71 h for sending and receiving signals to and froma cloud host server 1000 on a broad area internetwork.

The cloud host 1000 may then transmit or otherwise convey an instructionto a compatible remote device, shown here as an actuation device 25, asmartphone under control of user 85 for example, having capability totransform something in a physical sense, such by displaying a locationof a lost cat or lost keys on a map of the neighborhood, or sounding analarm, or displaying a reminder message from the cloud host server everyFriday.

The exemplary radiobeacon 80 of FIG. 7B further comprises supportingcircuitry that is adapted to perform programmed instructions from memoryor as supplied in firmware. Memory 80 c also includes one or morestorage devices capable of storing bits of RAM data. Thus theseradiobeacons 80 provide a richer computing resource environment whencompared to the more limited resource radiobeacons 70 illustrated inFIG. 7A. The sensor module may include one or more sensors as describeearlier, and may be capable of doing periodic data dumps in conjunctionwith memory, plotting trends, or detecting threshold levels. Generallyhowever, these advanced functions are contained in the cloud hostserver, where the computing resources are larger.

Nodal device 71 may be a stationary “hub” or a mobile device such as asmartphone and may be equipped with a portal to the Internet or anetwork, either wired or wireless; in this instance a broad areawireless transceiver with antenna 71 h is shown. Hubs are described inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/301,236, said patent applicationbeing co-assigned and co-pending.

Memory 71 b in the nodal device 71 is typically larger than that of aradiobeacon. Memory includes any combination of volatile memory andnon-volatile memory (for example, DRAM, SRAM, flash memory, SIM, EAROM,EPROM, EEPROM, and/or myriad types of other memory modules).

The nodal device is provided with a clock (not shown) so that radiocontacts (including cellphone tower contacts) can be timestamped forstorage. Optionally, incoming data such as photographs may also begeostamped if the device is provided with a global locator. Theprocessor 71 a capability may include a subroutine for transmitting GPScoordinates from a GPS receiver to a cloud host over a cellular or otherwireless interface. For forward broadcasting, any location data may beassociated with the sensor data payload in radiobeacon message 73. Theprocessor is further adapted to execute one or more programs which, upondetecting a specific control signal, modify the functionality of theradiobeacon (or vice versa) according to the type of signal detected, oralternatively, by the contents of the signal provided (e.g., sensor dataand identifiers embedded within the radiobeacon message, as describedelsewhere herein). In one embodiment, once the nodal devicefunctionality has been changed according to a governing policy ormultiple policies, actions such as push notifications (generated byforeground services unit 71 d) may be performed without a direct requestfrom the owner of the host device. The foreground services module hasaccess to a user interface 71 e and may be configured, usingapplications and systems of the invention, to display or announce alertsin response to triggers, threshold levels, or signatures contained inthe sensor payload received from the radiobeacon, either directly orindirectly (as via a server in receipt of the radiobeacon sensor payloadand having programming capacity to craft notifications directed toparticular users based on that sensor data, including input stimuligenerally, and other data in one or more relational databases, forexample).

Radiobeacon messages not addressed to the owner of the nodal device(i.e., addressed to a third party) are handled by background servicesunit 71 f. These features generally require some degree of programmingthat may be executed by the host processor after the needed softwareapplication (*) is installed in the nodal device by accessing adistribution server or other program distribution methods known in theart. Alternatively, the instruction set may be accessed throughcomputing resources in the cloud, although this is less resourceparsimonious.

In some instances, the nodal device 71, the radiobeacon 80, and anactuation device 25 are owned by a common owner 85. According topermissions by the common owner, nodal device 71 will shunt services toforeground services 71 d if possible, and that failing, will forwardbroadcast the message to device 25. In the case of nodal devices 14controlled by third party users, as shown for example in FIG. 1, willswitch messages to broad area radio transceiver 71 c and antenna 71 hfor broadcast to cloud host 1000 as a background service implemented bythe software application (*) in memory.

Generally as part of nodal device processor functions, a “policycontroller” comprises logic adapted to control signals received fromconnected devices and is implemented as one or more software routinesresident in one or more memory sources and executed by the processor. Inother devices, the policy controller may take the form of a networkcontroller. The policy controller comprises logic adapted to storeinformation pertaining to designated policies. For example, a givenpolicy may require muted ringers and reduced lighting when a wirelessdevice is determined to be in a certain zone, as triggered by a sensordata input from a radiobeacon. Some policies are implemented in theforeground services module 71 d; others in the background servicesmodule 71 f or in lower logic sub-routines and levels of machinefunction.

Also, in many embodiments, a policy controller facilitates the transferof one or more control signals or commands to a network of devices. Inone variant, the message signal comprises a command disposed within themessage frames as formatted in 802.11 WiFi Interface protocol. In othervariants, the radiobeacon message may comprise a plurality ofvendor-specific information or data elements which may be used to conveypolicy information to a smart device. It will be recognized, however,that other software-enabled approaches for communicating with communitynodal devices may be used as is consistent with the invention, includingfor example use of bluetoothed communications signals, or cellularforward/reverse traffic or control channels, etc. as applicable. Thesecapabilities are commonly encountered in “smart devices”, includingthose used here as nodal devices for information switching from onenetwork to another.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view, showing an exemplary computer-implementedsystem 900 for servicing an owner in need of conveying a command ornotification to a remote machine or actuation device in response to asensor data payload from one or more radiobeacons. This descriptionsupplements but does not limit the remaining figures and specification.This exemplary system demonstrates a radiobeacon 34, a community nodaldevice 14, a cloud host 1000, and an owner's personal device 911,optionally being operated at a distance to actuate a remote machine2000. Surprisingly, the system operates without any involvement of anindividual owner 85 and can perform simultaneous operations on behalf ofthe owner and other community members, engineering sharing of the neededcomputing and sensor resources from multiple devices.

Implicitly, the coordinated implementation of a system of the inventionrequires that appropriate instructions be provided, thus the inventionalso includes software components stored in memory and accessible to aprocessor as needed. Beyond that, the network and the owner's smartdevice all function without intervention by, or exposure to, anoperator; i.e., the system can function essentially autonomously. Thefinal recipient or owner 85 of the radio message is essentially entirelyrelieved of the operation of the system (except during setup and wheninstructions are input on a personal smart device, 911). As embodiedhere, the system requires no direct human involvement in making the lowenergy radiobeacon transmissions, in upswitching a message using acommunity nodal device 14 as a proxy, or in processing the amplifiedmessage, context, identifier, and sensor payload by the cloud host,administrative server, and administrative database. Thus any command toan effector machine or actuation device 3000 is entirely automated andis handled by smart logic implemented in the system at several levels.

Beginning at the top of FIG. 8, a stationary beacon 34 broadcasts 902 aradio message with sensor payload. A community nodal device 14 captures904 the qualifying message and begins processing by comparing theidentifier in the message with identifiers associated with the owner ofthe nodal device (i.e., its owner). These nodal devices are frequentlysmart phones and rely on identifiers to distinguish traffic addressed totheir owners from anonymous transmissions that are frequentlyencountered in the sea of radio transmissions around them. Incomingradio traffic is typically discarded 899 by conventional devices if theowner of the message is not recognized.

The invention changes that, preempting qualified radio messages forforward broadcast in background. Qualified radio signals are no longerdiscarded (X). By installing and operating an application of theinvention (or a firmware equivalent thereof), radio messages receivedfrom anonymous devices are instead identified by characteristic messagesidentifiers as belonging to a broader class of community members. Thenodal device is restructured by the application to organize nodal devicehardware, stacks and layers into a “background services unit” havingcapability to detect, receive, amplify, and upswitchingly transmit radiomessages to said cloud host according to rules implemented by theapplication. The restructured device includes a “soft switch” forshunting the messages to a broad area radioset for forward broadcast.

A decision tree 905 is shown. First, “YES”, if the owner of theradiobeacon 34 is associated with the owner of the nodal device 14, thenthe radio message is processed 906 by the foreground services unit ofthe nodal device. If the owner's response is confirmed (907, as can bemerely an unlocked screen or a ringtone in foreground services, anyresponse that engages a graphical user interface or an automatedforeground process), then the message is logged and stored 909 accordingto protocols established by the owner. Because foreground services areinvolved, the owner 85 may directly participate. Workflows 908 through911 are bidirectional in that the user may directly control the process.Typically an action is taken 910 and the process ends. The user need notbe directly involved but can later access the transaction. The message,timestamp, and any action taken is recorded in memory on the device 14.

On the other hand, (“NO”, 905) if the identifier in the radio message isnot associated with the owner of device 14, then the message isprocessed by the “soft switch” of the invention and (instead of beingdumped 899) is upswitched 920 as follows: Hardware connections arerestructured to direct the message to a broad area radioset,restructuring or “encoding” it to conform to an internetwork compatiblecommunications protocol (such as by adding a preamble and a routingaddress), while retaining the original message content. The radiosetamplifies the message and forward broadcasts it on a dedicated antenna922 so that it may be picked up by an internetwork portal and relayed toa designated cloud host 1000 from essentially anywhere around the world.The application is also configured to attach any timestamp, proximitymeasurement, or geostamp generated by the nodal device to the radiomessage before the radio message is amplified and upswitchinglytransmitting to the cloud host.

Because the message is not presented to foreground services, it remainsanonymous, and is neither displayed nor stored on the community nodaldevice 14. Although the incoming message may be augmented with atimestamp and even a geostamp from the receiving nodal device, themessage is not stored and is not retrievable on a user interface—so asto preserve privacy and prevent accumulation of clutter. After all, thedesign of the inventive system is such that de minimus resources areborrowed or shared in background to achieve a community service, henceany unneeded function that would be an added burden on the owner'sdevice is avoided—e.g., clearly, using any permanent memory resourceswould not be needed. While RAM memory is often needed for backgroundstack execution, the memory is either wiped or written over after theupswitch and the broadcast transaction 924 is completed.

The upswitched message is transmitted through cloud host 1000 to aremote machine 911. In the cloud, under control of an administrativeserver 924, the message is logged, parsed to retrieve the messagecontents, and any context, identifiers, including UUID and major andminor values, plus any sensor data payload, including concatenatedstreaming sensor payloads structured as described in FIG. 6, areprocessed. Rules-based associations are made, typically using arelational database or other intelligent processing capability.

Associations may be limited to owner-associated context and rules, ormay be expanded to include rules for parsing data in the context ofaggregated data such as location, time of day, or issues of communityinterest such as microarea weather events, vehicle accidents, communityevents, disturbances, including earthquakes, fires, and so forth. Thusboth personal notifications and commands and community-directednotifications and commands may be generated by the server. Example ofcommunity-directed notifications include summoning of first responderassistance or increasing light levels on a street at night in aparticular block; an example of a personal command includes a command tomap directions to the location of radiobeacon 34. In this respect,associations based on proximity and chronicity with respect to locationand time are likely to serve as context for any actions implemented bythe system host.

In this exemplary system, if the owner's response is not confirmed, acommand or notification is broadcast or otherwise transmitted 926 to apersonal device 911 operated by the owner of the message. This may takethe form of a notification or may result in execution of a series ofinstructions. The owner's device may also actuate a peripheral 3000, andmay cause execution of commands, causing direct actions such as to turndown a volume control, respond to an email, lock a vehicle, open agarage door and so forth, before ending 928. Direct contact 912 with theowner 85 is not a precondition for taking action, although the owner mayset up a policy controller to monitor any commands and receive sensordata in the form of a graphical or audible display on a user interface.Summaries may be announced using voice synthesizer technology known inthe art.

For those messages belonging to the owner of device 14, if foregroundservices 906 are non-responsive or not available, such as being “out ofservice”, or if the owner's confirmation 907 is insufficient accordingto rules established in the administrative server, this invokes analternate or secondary pathway. Message processing is preempted 930 bythe application running in device 14. Again as a background process,relying on background services and hardware layers of the nodal device,the message 931 is upswitched 922 and a communicatively compatibleinternetwork version of the message, having the original message contentaddressed to a cloud host 1000 or hosts, is broadcast with amplificationon a broad area radioset, such that it is picked up 924 by aninternetwork portal and relayed to the administrative server 1000 of thesystem. The system evaluates according to rules and contextualinformation available to it, and actuates an alternate owner's device911, either to deliver a notification or to cause local commands athome, at the “nest” site, or at a work location, to be executed. Thesequence ends 928 when action has been taken. The owner's directparticipation in the sequence is not required; but the input and outputsare logged and may be accessed by the owner from any device capable ofaccessing the administrative server. Thus the system acts as a personalassistant to the owner, taking care of issues that the owner may beunable to, or chose not to, personally attend to. The details of theaction(s) taken are dependent on contextual information available to theadministrative server 924 and any instructions and permissions set up bythe owner.

While the owner's device is depicted figuratively as a smart device 911,any device capable of receiving digital commands may be operated andcontrolled in this way. In some instances, the smart device may havesufficient machine capability to execute a command without involvementof a peripheral 3000. For example, the smart device may be able to takea picture, or respond 925 by sending a location to the cloud hostserver, and so forth. Thus if the owner's response is insufficientbecause the device is lost, the cloud host may be programmed to commandactions that will assist the owner in finding it. Numerous examples maybe given of uses for the systems of the invention.

FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C are plan and perspective views of an exemplaryradiobeacon 600 configured for use in the inventive systems andnetworks. FIG. 9A identifies a radiobeacon with disk-shaped body, anedge-mounted button switch 614 a, and a cord orifice 617 such as forsecuring the radiobeacon to a keychain or to an object in need ofmonitoring. FIGS. 9B and 9C are illustrations in perspective showingfront and back features of a representative radiobeacon device 600.Incorporated by reference is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/301,236titled “Tracking Device System”, where further description is provided.

The radiobeacon 600 is an assembly having outside clamshell housingpieces 611, 616. The covers are made of glass filled acrylonitrilebutadiene styrene (ABS) thermoplastic which is light in weight, can beinjection molded and is resistant to impact, heat, water, acids,alkalis, alcohols and oils. The housing typically is partiallytranslucent, and permits light to enter and exit one or more surfaces.The top and bottom clamshell housing pieces 611, 616 havecircular-shaped bodies 603 a, 603 b, each with an annular wall 604 a,604 b. The covers also form a through-hole 617 for receiving a cord orchain to attach the radiobeacon to an object, a pet or the clothing of aperson. Sealing bung 605 inside the cord hole 617 prevents moisture fromentering the internal cavity inside the radiobeacon housing. This is avent for assembly and is closed after the body is sealed shut.

Multifunction button 614 a is operable to perform one or more functionsaccording to context and history. The button operates with one or morecontrol programs resident on a host device during setup of alarms, topair triggers, and if so enabled, to remotely control operations of thehost device.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are exploded views of an exemplary radiobeacon. Theradiobeacon 600 is an assembly having outside covers 611, 616. Thecovers are made of glass filled acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)thermoplastic which is light in weight, can be injection molded and isresistant to impact, heat, water, acids, alkalis, alcohols and oils. Thetop and bottom clamshell housing pieces 611, 616 have circular-shapedbodies 603 a, 603 b, each with an annular wall 604 a, 604 b. The coversalso form a through-hole 617 for receiving a cord or chain to attach theradiobeacon to an object, a pet or the clothing of a person.

The clamshell pieces 611, 616 enclose a printed circuit board (PCB) 612and a battery 615. The PCB 612 has a crescent-shaped body with an outeredge 602 a having a radius of curvature slightly smaller than the radiusof curvature of the covers 611, 616 and an inner edge 602 b with asmaller radius of curvature. Two circular arcs of different diametersthus define the crescent shape of the PCB 612. The PCB 612 has anopening 613 a for receiving a circular battery 615.

The diameter of the battery 615 is smaller than the diameter of opening613 a in the PCB 612. The battery 615 has one terminal on its surfaceand another terminal on its edge. The edge of the battery engages aconductive edge connector 618 on the inner edge 602 b of the PCB 612.Another conductor has a spring-biased body 619 that extends from PCB 612toward the middle of a surface of the battery 615. The battery 615 isheld in the opening 613 between the two covers 611, 616 and against theconductive edge connector 618 on the inner edge 602 b of the PCB 612.

Bottom housing piece 616 has an opening 613 b sufficient to receive thebattery 615. A threaded battery cover 608 a, a matching threaded annularwall 608 b and an O-ring 607 secures battery 615 in the openings 613 a,613 b. A detent 609 in the surface of the battery cover 608 receives anopening tool, such a screwdriver or the edge of a coin (not shown).Inserting the tool in the detent and rotating the cover 608 a open thecover to access the battery.

The radiobeacon is assembled by inserting a PCB 612 with componentcircuitry on the inside surface of housing base piece 616. The tophousing 611 is placed on top of base 616 to define a cavity that holdsthe battery 615 and PCB 612. The two covers are ultrasonically sealed toresist water or other materials from entering the device 600. A batteryis inserted through opening 613 b in cover 616 and the battery lid 608 asealedly engages O-ring 607 and threaded wall 608 b. Cover 608 a rotatesin opposite directions to close or open. By encircling the battery withthe printed circuit board 612, the thickness of the assembly is notincreased, and us determined only by the separation of covers 611, 616and the thickness of the battery 615. Some embodiments are 5 mm thin and40 mm in diameter. Unlike other devices that use batteries, the PCB doesnot contribute to the thickness of the device 600 because the battery615 does not rest on the PCB 612 but is partially encircled by theopening 613 a in the PCB 612.

A multi-function button 614 a extends from an opening defined byhalf-oval walls 614 b, 614 c in the sidewall of the junction of thestubby cylindrical walls 604 a, and 604 b. In one embodiment there is asingle multi-function rubber button 614 a that extends from the edge ofthe device. Button 614 a is held in place by wall edges 614 b, 614 cthat overlap surface or “boot” 614 d to hold the rubber button 614 ainside the covers 611, 616. The rubber button is aligned with amechanical switch 614 e that is attached to the PCB 612 and coupled tothe core circuit.

The covers 611, 616 and the PCB 612 have aligned openings 617 a, 617 b,617 c that create an external key ring hole 617 for holding a key ring,a carrying chain or cord. As will be explained below, the componentcircuitry has a speaker for sounding one or more alarms. The edge of thecovers defines a key ring hole 617 that has on or more small holes thatmay be sealed. In those embodiments a removable rubber plug 605 isinserted into the hole to prevent moisture and water from entering thecavity holding the component circuitry 620. As an alternative, a largerrubber plug could fill the entire channel 617 a through 617 c or atleast cover the annular inner surface of the keyhole.

FIG. 11 is an animation view showing a radiobeacon in three consecutivepositions at times T₁, T₂, T₃. In each snapshot, the radiobeacon 600transits a defined path (walking FIG. 1040, MOTION, dashed heavy arrow)so as to come into proximity with a series of three community nodaldevices (1010,1011,1012). Each nodal device registers a message(1021,1022,1023) from the radiobeacon in turn and upswitchinglytransmits a broadband message in turn (1031,1032,1033) to a cloud server1000, which in turn may initiate a command transmission to a nodaldevice 911 in a remote location 1030. In this instance, the remote nodaldevice 911 relays the command to a remote machine 3000 for execution andmonitors that the execution of the command was completed (double-headedarrow). The command might contain data for displaying a notification ondevice 911 to the owner of the radiobeacon 600 or to a friend havingshared permissions. The smartphone 911 can report status to the cloudserver: that the friend has acknowledged the notification and is tryingto catch up with FIG. 1040.

Radio signals are indicated at three times T₁, T₂, and T₃, eachcorresponding to a point in time and a position in the right-to-leftpath of the walking FIG. 1040. Each message may contain updated sensorcontent reflective of time and distance traveled. The cloud host servermay use this information to track the radiobeacon 600, which in thisexample is attached to a keychain that has been unknowingly carried awayby an individual 1040 in a borrowed jacket. The messages may alsoinclude other sensor information, such as microclimate indicators,insolation, and direct or indirect indicators of proximity and location.

In some instances, permission may be in place to engage foregroundservices. For example, local nodal device 1012 may include a virtualmachine accessory video camera either integral to the smartphone orseparately linked to the smart device by a USB or wireless link such asa headband or a pair of smart glasses worn on the head of a communitymember. The video can then be streamed to the cloud, and according touser permissions in an administrative server, forwarded to one or moredisplay stations or websites to help track the errant keychain. Thiscould be important when the person carrying the radiobeacon 600 has lefttheir medications at home, or is missing and needs to be found. Inanother instance, the operator of radiobeacon 1012 could be invited toapproach walking FIG. 1040 and offer assistance.

Roles may be reversed, nodal device 911 may interchangeably insertitself into ad hoc networks by proximity to the radiobeacons of others,and serve as a shared community resource—either way, all community nodaldevices will reciprocate in upswitchingly transmitting data from aradiobeacon to the cloud.

Nodal device 911 may also function as a radiobeacon, or may signal thecloud server to request devices 1010, 1011 and 1012 report theirlocation so as to track the person carrying radiobeacon device 600.Generally the messages are very short and result in a minimal load onthe network. In other cases, some devices may have permission to permitsharing of foreground resources such as GPS location that can be used totrack the keychain (or the missing person).

In some embodiments, the radiobeacon may carry its own GPS device andbroadcast its latitude and longitude coordinates in the message (i.e.,as a geostamp), accompanied by a timestamp. In other embodiments, theradiobeacon message may be stamped with the GPS coordinates of any nodaldevice that participates in systems such as shown in the precedingfigures and is within an effective radio contact area of anyradiobeacon. In still other embodiments, the location of one nodaldevice may be paired with the range of one radiobeacon 600. For example,in the system shown in FIG. 11, the nodal device 1012 provides alocation using its GPS function and pairs that location with theproximity of radiobeacon 600 and the time of contact. These radiobeaconsare sophisticated “radiotags” when attached to children, pets, propertyand so forth.

Where timestamps and geostamps can be aggregated, the host notificationmay include a tracking feature whereby a plurality of recent locationsof said lost object are visually displayed in the form of a track overtime superimposed on a map. The track may also include an extrapolationof at least one future position or a composite showing the locations ofone or two friends who in position to intersect the track ahead of thelost object, thus potentially recovering it by activating a visual oraudible alarm when in close range.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a system 1100 and network having three(or more) radiobeacons (1101, 1102, 1103), one smartphone 911 (withsoftware “*”, 1002) with owner/user in proximity to the radiobeacons, acloud server 1000, and an accessible database 1001 configured to storeinformation about radio contacts, including identifier, location, zoneand temperature and to display that in a dashboard display 1166broadcast to smart devices requesting it. Radiobeacon 1102 is tagged toan item 1106 such as a child's pocket tag (or may be attached with asafety pin). An owner/user's smartphone 911 is in motion away from theradiobeacons and will soon be out of radio broadcast range of the lowenergy transmissions. However, the smartphone remains in radio contactwith cloud host 1000, and has installed application (asterisk, 1002) forreceiving radiobeacon sensor data from the cloud host.

In this embodiment, the cloud host server includes one or moreadministrative databases 1001 that keep records on owners, users,location and sensor data from each radiobeacon in the system. For userof the network 1100, the database 1001 would show a table 1160 of thedevices owned by the user (or those devices for which the user hadgranted or received one or more privileges or are marked for publicaccess), the identity (column 1161) of each device that is owned orsubject to a privilege granted or received, the information (columns1164, 1165) reported by each sensor of each device, including and notlimited to the time the information was received and the location(column 1162) of the devices 1101, 1102, 1103. At any time the owner ofthe radiobeacons and nodal device 911 may view a report 1166 showinginformation on the location and sensors of each radiobeacon, includingthe last known location of the radiobeacon and when the last knownlocation was recorded in the cloud administrative database 1001. Thus ina simple application, the owner's own smart device 911 can monitorradiobeacon 1102 as it approaches the limit of its broadcast range.

If the low energy broadcast range of radiobeacon 1102 from the owner'ssmart device 911 is exceeded as the owner walks away, no furtherinformation is received by the cloud host from smartphone 911. However,a number of other community nodal devices (1114, 1115, 1116, 1117, 1118)may be within radio range. If programmed to recognize the identifiersand message, the device will not discard the radio contact and message,but will instead upswitch the information in a wide area broadcast on aseparate antenna to the cloud host 1000, in this case including the GPSlocation 1162 of “radiotag” 1102. The nodal device will forward theradiobeacon identity, sensor information, timestamp, and any GPSgeostamp. As long as an application for sharing radiobeacon sensor datais running in background, each nodal device will upswitch anyradiobeacon message from the radiobeacons. No permission is required toreceive and upload the radiobeacon signal. The upswitch andretransmission of radiobeacon information by the nodal devices(1114,1115,1116,1117,1118) imposes no hardship on the shared resourcesof the system.

Thus if the child carrying tag 1106 is moving in the opposite direction(OBJECT MOTION) of a parent (OWNER'S MOTION) and is out of range, anowner of radiobeacon 1102 may access the database 1001 and mark theobject (with radiobeacon tag) as “lost.” Assume another user carriesnodal device 1115 and has no shared privileges for radiobeacon 1102.Nevertheless, when nodal device 1115 passes within range of theradiobeacon signal from radiobeacon 1102, the identity of the lostdevice 1102 and its approximate GPS location will be automaticallyrelayed to the cloud host 1000 and recorded on the database 1001. Thehost will then prepare a report 1166 and forward it to the owner'ssmartphone 911. The report details the general location of the lostdevice; the location is periodically updated as the radiobeacon tag 1102encounters other nodal devices, for example nodal device 1116. Theapproximate location can be displayed on a suitable application such asGoogle Maps, or MapQuest, to provide the owner with enough informationto attempt to recover the device. As the owner gets in proximity, theowner's smartphone captures the signature ping from radiotag 1102 andcan send a command that actuates the radiobeacon to sound an alarm orblink in the dark. Suddenly the exact location of the missing item isreadily discoverable. Similarly, a child, discovering that he is lost,may press button 614 a to alert the system and initiate a response thatinvolves establishing the child's location and reuniting the child withhis parent.

A user can have an alert triggered when the distance or proximitybetween the nodal device 911 and the radiobeacon 600 exceeds apredetermined distance selected by the operator of the nodal device.

Radiobeacons of the invention may be provided with speaker and a lightemitting diode so as to tag an object for later recovery. To execute asearch for the object, any nodal device with appropriate permissions maycommand the radiobeacon to emit an alert, including a buzz or flashinglight. If an objecting tagged with the radiobeacon is inside a drawer orunder a pillow, the person searching for the object will hear the buzzor see the flashing light. The nodal device may also set automaticalerts triggered by increasing or decreasing distance between theradiobeacon and the nodal device, for example.

The radiobeacon message includes identification information specific tothe radiobeacon (generally manufacturer's make and model) and mayinclude sensor output representative of the status of the charge of thebattery. The program displays both the range and battery statusinformation. As explained above, the location of the radiobeacon may bedetected by other nodal devices, which may assist the owner in locatinga lost object to which a radiobeacon is attached. Accordingly, the nodaldevice, if associated with network of other nodal devices, may acquireinformation about the location of a radiobeacon from other networkednodal devices (any proximate nodal device owned by an anonymous user).This sharing is promiscuous and ad hoc. The control program provides afeature for selecting a map displaying the remote location of eachradiobeacon controlled by the owner.

Each radiobeacon (1101,1102,1103) is registered by the cloud host to anowner (using the unique UUID) and may have one or more shared users. Asused in this disclosure, the term “owner” applies to a user of aradiobeacon who has primary control over the radiobeacon. The embodimentenvisions local, regional, national and international networks withinthe scope of “internetworks”. It also envisions registered owner-usersof radiobeacons and other registered users all sharing a cloud hostserver or servers for collecting information about (and from)radiobeacons globally, or in a particular local area. An owner-user maygrant one or more privileges to other users who are defined in theadministrative database 1001 as “friends”, so that the system will allowfriends some level of access or control of the owner's radiobeacons andsensor output. For example, one owner-user may give a friend a privilegeto view all data in a host database 1001 or webpage (or view data onlyassociated with a selected subset of radiobeacons chosen by theowner-user for sharing). Even when the owner permits other users to seethe data, some data may be marked “private” and excluded from the viewof the shared user. An owner may also permit other users to control one,more, or all functions of individual radiobeacons of the owner. An ownermay also allow device data to be posted publicly, so that any user canview the data.

The friend feature solves a potential problem of locating lostradiobeacons. If a friend finds a lost item of an owner by encounteringa radio signal associated with the tag (such as tag 1102), the friendmay discretely notify the owner that the friend has found the lostradiobeacon (and by extension the object 1106 attached to the device) bycalling the owner or sending the owner an email or text message. Theemail could include a map with a pin showing the location.

In an alternative friend-based scenario, assume a user of nodal device1115 (who was granted privileges for the lost radiotag 1102 by itsowner) detects the lost device. The owner sees on the database that theuser of nodal device 1115 is close to the lost radiotag 1102 and alsohas privileges on it. The owner may then contact the friend/user viatelephone or email and ask the user to find the lost radiotag 1102 byinitiating a sound or light alert while in proximity. The missing item1106 is then easily found by sight or hearing.

Shared use has a number of advantages. For example, assume the owner ofthe radiobeacon 1101 is away from home and receives a call from a memberof his family asking for help finding a lost object such as a pistoltagged by a radiotag. The owner could log into the cloud host server1000 and send a suitable command to the radiobeacon 1101 to operate aninternal speaker and LED. Perhaps more easily, if the owner had sharedcontrol of the radiobeacon with other family members, then the shareduser could send the command to generate an audible “homing signal”directly. Objects lost anywhere in the world may be located by usingposition data provided by other nodal devices that carry the applicationand are registered to the cloud host administrative site 1000.

The database has numerous uses. Radiobeacons may be distributed over alarge geographic area where each radiobeacon is periodically in contactwith the cloud host as it makes radio contact with passing nodaldevices. The radiobeacons may be installed at one or more knownlocations or may have been located by some mapping means when installed.The sensors on the radiobeacons will report their sensor package data,such as temperatures, air pressure, humidity, and other environmentalcharacteristics, thus providing in aggregate a detailed local picture ofthe weather in a geographic area. Databases 1001 may include maps,tables, place names, or zones 1163.

Sensor data may serve as a trigger signal. There are virtually anunlimited number of sensors that can be used to provide trigger signalsand a similar unlimited of responses or alerts that may be given inresponse to any trigger signals. Each radiobeacon may have a button 614a and may have one or more sensors as described earlier. The button andeach sensor may generate a trigger signal. Trigger signals may becombined in any number of combinations and/or sequences of triggersignals to generate particular trigger signals depending upon theoccurrence of predetermined combinations and/or sequences of triggersignals. The radiobeacons and nodal devices may thus also generate oneor more unique responses or alerts upon receipt of any designatedtrigger signals and unique combinations thereof. Multifunction buttonsand keypads may also be used to aid in programming and organizingnotifications, triggers, and executable functions.

FIG. 13 is an exemplary view of a system 1200 and network having threeradiobeacons (1201, 1202, 1203), a nodal device (identified here as a“hub” 1204), an optional computing device 1205, a cloud-based cloud hostserver, and three client devices. Radiobeacons (1201,1202,1203) are inwireless communication with hub 1204. The hub 1204 may be connected to agateway computing resource 1205 that in turn is connected to the cloudhost 1000. In some embodiments, the hub 1204 is directly connected tothe cloud, bypassing optional desktop computer 1205. The hub 1204listens for signals from the radiobeacons. The hub has a bluetoothedradioset or other wireless communication apparatus and can sense therange of each radiobeacon within its effective field. Upon receivingsignals from one or more radiobeacons, the hub relays any sensor payloadand identifier information associated with the radiobeacons to the cloudhost server. Likewise, the hub may send control information receivedfrom the owner via the cloud host server to each or all theradiobeacons. For illustration, reports and updates may be sent to aremote computer 1210, a tablet 1211, or a user's smartphone 1213.Similarly, the smartphone, tablet or computer may be used to sendcommands to one or more of the beacons via hub 1204. Commands receivedfrom the host are downswitched to a bluetoothed compatible antenna at afrequency in the Bluetooth band for transmission to a radiobeacon havingthe transceiver feature described in FIG. 7B. Internet client 1205(shown here as a desktop computer) is optional if hub 1204 is equippedwith a wide area transceiver communicatively compatible with aninternetwork portal.

These embodiments of networks rely on integrate multiple radiobeaconsand bluetoothed devices into an ad hoc network by providing anapplication configured to switch bluetoothed radio signals to a higherpowered internetwork and in reverse, from an internetwork to a shortrange bluetoothed signal. In this way, a nodal device (e.g. asmartphone) does not have to directly control the radiobeacons, however.All radiobeacons for an owner are registered in the hub 1204 and eachcan be securely accessed from a smartphone or other nodal deviceanywhere in the world. The registered radiobeacons can be used for homesecurity, automation, or playing games with friends across the world,for example.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are views of an alternate system and networkarchitecture of the invention. The system includes a radiobeacon 600 andan accessory “beaconmate” 1300. In this case, the radiobeacon is“radiotagging” a key 1370. The beaconmate 1300 is in bidirectional shortrange communication 1310 with the radiobeacon 600. Whereas theradiobeacon has only a single button 614 a, the beaconmate has buttons1301 a through 1301 n, and includes a special function bar 1303. Alsoincluded is an LED rose 1304 with eight compass pointers 1309 and acentral “enter” button 1305. Center button 1305 is context sensitive,and for example can actuate a directional search on a first press and anaudible homing signal from a misplaced smartphone (if equipped with acompatible application package) on a second press, thus aiding users infinding a phone before losing a call.

The buttons appeal to users less familiar with a gestural language todifferentiate a lexicon of commands, and is less expensive to implementthan a voice recognition system in the limited computing powerenvironment of battery operated devices.

The beaconmate device can also include a flashlight 1306, a compass withindividually illuminated LEDs (1309) that function as directionalindicators in search mode and as capacitive switches in navigate mode.Also included in this embodiment is a detachable memory stick that wheninserted into a USB port in the beaconmate, becomes the base flashlight1306. Flashlight 1306 lights when button 1305 is held down. The devicemay also include a solar recharger (or RF recharger as describedearlier) and a disposable battery power source. This device mayalternatively have a retractable USB connector and may be plugged into acellphone for setup of user functions in on-board flash memory.

In other embodiments, the flashlight/memory stick may be pulled out toexpose a USB miniconnector, which would otherwise sit in a waterresistant cavity and be electronically connected via a databus to thecircuit board and processor inside. Because the device as so configuredis capable of both bluetoothed and USB connectivity, added levels offunction are achieved. The user would plug the memory stick into aphone, actuate bluetoothed pairing, transfer all the neededconfiguration information while operating in bluetoothed mode, and thenplug the memory stick back into the beaconmate receptacle, where thesetup configuration would be accessed during operation of the device.Removing the memory stick would render the device unworkable.Alternatively, the memory stick can be used to store photos from asmartphone, and then plugged into a computer or camera for furtherprocessing and archiving.

FIG. 15 is a view of a simplified command and control system utilizingbeaconmate 1300, radiobeacon 600, nodal device 911, a cloud host 1000,and remote actuation device represented by smartphone 25. In thisembodiment, the beaconmate and the radiobeacon are in radio contact withthe nodal device, but the beaconmate adds the power of bidirectionalcommunication with the host device. Using this system, the beaconmatemay be configured to provide an alternate interface with buttonshortcuts for accessing functions of the smart device 911 and fortriggering remote actuation of other machines and devices 3000 via cloudaccess to functions in actuation device 25.

FIG. 16 is an exemplary view of a system 1500 showing radiobeacon 600with beaconmate 1300 in digital communication with a smartphone 1501 inlocal area proximity (represented by box 1505). Here a second smartphone1502 initiates a call to the first smartphone. The call recipient 85 mayhave set down the phone and instead relies on the beaconmate to reportand respond to the incoming telephone call according to pre-programmedrules. The keypad may be color coded to indicate whether the user knowsthe caller by the color of the key that lights up. The beaconmate canalso be set up to send a signal to the beacon, triggering a sensor dump,in which the beacon reports any sensor data that provides neededcontext, a sort of “do not disturb” such as accelerometry indicating thecall recipient is driving. In this way, beacons may be given enhancedfunctions. Beacons having one or more sensors may be supplemented, forexample, with additional sensors mounted in the beaconmate. By usingvery low signal strength 1311 to communicate from the beaconmate to theradiobeacon, longer battery life of the accessory 1300 is achieved. Boldarrow 1311 represents ultra-low energy radio transmissions or “messages”between the radiobeacon 600 and beaconmate 1300.

FIG. 17 is an exemplary schematic view of a beaconmate 1300 (dashed box)in direct digital communication with a nodal device 1501 at close range.Signals received by the nodal device are transmitted to a cloud host1000, analyzed according to user-programmed rules and commands, and fromthere to a client device 911. A smartphone is represented but is to beindicative of any compatible nodal device, shown here displaying a map.

Components identified in this simplified block view include abluetoothed low energy (BTLE) core device 1350. The core device includesan antenna for sending low energy radio signals 1312. The core devicegenerally includes an integrated microcontroller, read only memory(ROM), random access memory (RAM) sufficient to support rudimentarycontrol, or may be provided with firmware sufficient for basicfunctions. For some applications, a removable flash memory device may beincorporated. The memory device may be added through a slot in theoutside walls or may be installed under the battery. The memory devicemay tabulate data collected by sensors mounted in the device for laterretrieval and analysis.

The core device 1350 has a clock. The radiobeacon signal and any signalfrom a sensor may include the time any message or signal is sent.According to an application subroutine (such as a near fieldcommunications sensor unit), nodal device 1360 may wake the device 1300,receive sensor output, and then set the device back to sleep such thatits broadcast signal is only active when the two units are in closeproximity. A second nodal device 911 may again later wake up theradiobeacon and receive a signal. The core device also tracks time andany alert may be paired to one or more chosen times or day, week, monthor year.

The core device 1350 is assigned a unique identification code (UUID) andwill generally broadcast at periodic intervals as programmed by thedeveloper. Broadcasts 1312 may be made using a ceramic antenna, a loopantenna, or a dipole antenna selected for low energy consumption.

The core device 1350 controls a speaker 1323 and an array 1304 of lightemitting diodes formed as a compass rose as a navigation and trackingaid. The speaker 1323 and the LED “rose” array 1304 are configured tocommunicate alarms directly to a user and to assist in tracking andlocating lost items, among other functions.

The core device 1350 is connected to one or more sensors (1340,1341), orany number of sensors 1349 (S_(N)). Exemplary sensors senseenvironmental and physical parameters experienced by the radiobeacon,including and not limited to temperature, light intensity, smoke,voltage, sound, motion, displacement, acceleration, humidity, pressure,radiation, button-press event, compass direction, or to report daylightlevels, traffic levels, noise levels, NOX levels, and unusual noisessuch as gunshots or sirens, or self-reporting, such as reporting a lowbattery level, or other stimulus, sensor data, or environmentalparameters, without limitation thereto. In some embodiments, a sensor isa combined multi-axis motion sensor and temperature sensor. In oneembodiment, the sensor has an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, anda magnetometer for each axis. The information or “sensor data” output bythe multi-axis motion sensor enables the receiver (i.e., a host devicesuch as a smartphone) to monitor and track the beaconmate (which isradiotagged by a radiobeacon) as it moves from one location to another.Alternatively, the beaconmate may include a GPS-based location sensor.The motion of the device can be monitored continuously by a cloud hostserver 1000 as long as the receiver 1360 is close enough to be inwireless contact with the sensor package on board or alternatively witha radiobeacon in wireless contact with the beaconmate. As analternative, the information may be stored in a memory in the device andaccessed later.

Some embodiments of the beaconmate of the invention are equipped withrechargeable batteries 1325 that may be recharged via an inductivecharger 1326. Wireless chargers, also known as induction chargers,typically place one coil in a charging device or pad that is connectedto an AC power source. Battery top off controls and discharge controlsare known in the art and may be implemented where warranted.

Other embodiments of the invention may have wired rechargers. These arewell-known devices and may be incorporated into beaconmate devices ofthe invention by providing a suitable port (not shown) to receive powerfrom an external power supply. However, such external ports provideopenings in the housing that are not desirable, and hence indirectcharging means are preferred. A disposable battery 1320 may be included.

Other embodiments may have solar power cells and chargers 1327, so thatbattery 1325 is rechargeable by exposure to light. Solar cells have adual role by acting as light sensors. This allows flexibility inconfiguring notifications to the user by pairing sensor data and othercontextual data to the presence or absence of light. The amount ofcurrent generated by the solar cells is indicative of the intensity ofthe light falling on the beaconmate sensor.

While not shown, other embodiments of the beaconmate have antennas andcircuitry for harvesting RF power to recharge battery 1325. RFharvesters having a GMS antenna, one or more resident circuits,boosters, peak detectors, and an adder, are known in the art. Thecircuit contains passive components and is designed to have tunedcircuits at known frequencies of cell phone towers (960 MHz) andbluetoothed devices (2.4 GHz). The boosters are Villard voltagemultipliers. Reported test results show the RF harvester located withinfive hundred meters of a cell tower was capable of generating 0.16microWatt and successfully operated a calculator and a light emittingdiode. Related advances include Dickson cascade diode capacitorcircuits, charge pumps, Karthaus-Fischer cascade voltage doublers andrectantennas known in the art.

Actuation device 911 may be a smartphone or pad for displaying a map asshown. The map may be an interactive map and may include a voice overlayor data overlay. Maps may include aggregate data, such as traffic, radiotraffic, tremors, fog, crowding, or special offers, sites of interest,meeting places, and so forth.

FIG. 18 is an alternative system and network having a radiobeacon 600, abeaconmate 1300, a smartphone 1501, and a cloud-based cloud host server1000. Commands issued from the host platform 1000 may be directed usingone of the buttons on the beaconmate, such that various pre-programmedresponses are selectable with a button press depending which button ispressed and on context. Other responses may be selected with acombination of button presses. The radiobeacon periodically pings theuser's phone and a notification is generated in the beaconmate if thephone 1501 is no longer in very close proximity. In an improvement overthe “hot-cold” proximity sensors of the art, direction pointers in theLED rose 1304 will light up according to the last known position of thephone. In this way, the user need not carry the phone directly on hisperson, and will be reminded if he moves too far away from the phone andcould miss a call.

Similar networks may be set up for controlling remote machines. In oneexemplary variant, a user may press a button on the beaconmate toremotely take a photo, such as a “selfie”, with his cellphone 911. Inanother variant, the beaconmate buttons may be assigned functions, suchas opening a garage door, tracking a child, or calling a particularfriend. The beaconmate may illuminate particular buttons or colors ofthe compass rose according to who is calling. Also, the beaconmate mayreceive reports of a low battery in either the radiobeacon or the phoneand may cause a message to be initiated and displayed on the phone tothe user before power levels become critical.

Thus the beaconmate is an extension of the radiobeacon and is animprovement over embodiments having only a single button 614 a. Morecomplex systems can be conceived. The beaconmate may also include voiceactuation commands and may do mathematical problems like adding,subtracting, or calculating mortgage payments from principal andinterest rate by voice commands. The beaconmate has a program thatallows the user to create custom trigger signals including combinationsand/or sequences of individual trigger signals, thus serving as apersonal assistant while being small enough to be pocketed or pinned toa lapel.

FIG. 19 shows a view of a message in which bit overloading is used totransmit sensor signals. Advantageously, because the data is highlycompressed, typically a few hundred bytes or less per transmission, theload on the network is minimal. Thus a network may include moretransmissions per unit time, but because each transmission is aflickering transmission, the network is not slowed significantly by theincreased radio traffic. Rather than collect sensor data by asking thehost to perform top-down queries, the sensor data is promiscuouslyuploaded whenever an opportunity presents, and the cloud host works withmessages as they are received. This simplifies the organization andexecution, leading to improved resource efficiency through sharing.

Sensor data may be overloaded into messages in “first sensor value” and“second sensor value” frames within a standard communications protocol.The formatting is configured to be compliant with a low power packetcommunications format (without disrupting the underlying protocol) butcontains encoded sensor output from a sensor unit associated with theoriginating radiobeacon. These messages may be upswitchedly transmittedin a broadband communications protocol to a cloud host that is competentto decode the sensor data.

In order to conserve bandwidth and to ensure unambiguous transmission ofsensor data from the radiobeacons, framing of signals and loading of thesensor data is performed. The loading function may be performed by anencoder associated with a radio emitter or may be performed by softwareexecuted in the emitter module or by a processor associated with theemitter. The signal broadcast by the radio is generally packeted orotherwise configured to contain an identifier value (UUID), and one ormore frames of the message, where, in part at least, output in digitizedform insertedly encoded in one or more standard frames of acommunications protocol as describe above. Thus the encoder function(see for example 80 b, FIG. 7B) may be a stand-alone circuit operatingto configure the radio signal or may be integrated into either theprocessor or the radio emitter if desired and may be implemented usingsoftware or firmware or a combination of both.

For overloaded transmission message 1800, both the first frame 1802 andthe second frame 1805 are split between static conventional data anddynamic sensor data. UUID broadcast 1801 is followed by a split value inwhich the protocol allows four reserved bits 1803 for owner-specifiedinformation such as location or direction and up to twelve reserved bits1804 for a digitized dynamic output from one or more sensors. Similarly,a next frame may contain eight reserved bits 1806 for beacon naming andeight reserved bits 1807 for dynamic sensor data. Some frames may betermed “major value” and “minor value” and may be overloaded with sensordata as described here. The message with reserved bits may be read bythe processor, may be written to memory, or may be upswitchedlytransmitted onto a cloud host in a broad area network. Reserved bits maybe selected from least significant bits or most significant bits, or maybe reserved bits at any point in the frame. For example, bit 1808 may behigh or low as indicative of whether a switch is open or closed. In thisway sensor data is overloaded on transmissions while complying withstandardized radio communication protocols so as to minimize cost to thesystem for implementation.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are representative views to illustrate screenshots ofgraphical user interface displays generated by an exemplary softwareapplication of the invention as displayed on a nodal device or othercomputing machine, here represented by a common smartphone screen.

FIG. 20A illustrates a first screenshot 1900 a. The application isoperative in cooperation with a cloud host in managing a radiobeaconnotification system. A setup routine detects radiobeacons indicated byicons 1902, 1903 in the vicinity and offers the user tools to monitorand configure the rules and privileges associated with each radiobeacon.Radiobeacons may be physically attached to objects of interest by theowner; a process termed here “radiotagging”. The cluster of radiobeacons1902, 1903 on defines a hive (icon, 1901) administered by a hub. Thescreenshot illustrates how to configure the hive. In the top banner1906, shown are control buttons 1907, 1908 and 1909, respectively, forenabling the smartphone to receive and send bluetoothed transmissions,for releasing one or more of the radiobeacons from the hive, and forsetting a toolbox of settings for the radiobeacons. Banner 1910 definescolumns for active devices 1911, their range 1912, and their status1913. For example, radiobeacon 1902 (icon TD1) has a range indicated bythree bars and a status showing a can icon 1914. In the next row,another radiobeacon 1903 (icon TD2) with signal bars and can 1915. Thecan icon is used to indicate that the radiobeacon is under the owner'scontrol but can be released if so desired.

In the hive there are several more radiotagged objects below the bannertitled “Far away” (1520). These radiobeacons are not within range of thelow energy radioset. The faraway objects include My Wallet 1904 andanother object named “cat” (1905). The cat is networked (icon 1521) toindicate that the radiobeacon physically linked to the cat's collar isshared with another user.

Near the bottom of the screenshot, banner 1522 shows “Friends”. A friendis any other user who has some control and shared access over one ormore of the radiobeacons. The icon 1523 may be pressed to add newfriends. Also shown are existing friends, as may be updated by pressingany of the buttons in the row.

The computer program enables the nodal device to detect radiobeaconswithin range of the nodal device and acquire control of the radiobeaconunless another nodal device already controls the device. The nodaldevice may also release from its control one or more selectedradiobeacons. The control program also allows the user to keep privatethe information of the tracking device. Once set to private, only thenodal device or other designated apparatuses or individuals will haveaccess to data from the radiobeacon.

The control program allows the user of the user to select at least onealert. The nodal device or the radiobeacon or both may generate thealerts. In order to trigger the alert, the radiobeacon broadcasts aradiobeacon signal via a bluetoothed transceiver.

In a preferred embodiment, range is a trigger for the radiobeacons. Onthe nodal device the user may define one or more ranges for generatingresponses including alerts. One potential use is keeping a parentadvised of the relative location of a child while shopping in a store.Different responses or alerts could be given at different ranges as thedistance between the child and the parent varies. When used with a hive,a trigger may be given when a radiobeacon leaves or enters the hive.

The signal strength of the radiobeacon signal received by the nodaldevice is representative of the distance or range between the nodaldevice and the tacking apparatus. The signal strength is considered acondition for a distance alert. If a nodal device suddenly receives aradiobeacon signal of a controlled radiobeacon, the nodal device mayindicate the device has returned to a location proximate the nodaldevice. Likewise, failure to detect a radiobeacon signal of a controlledradiobeacon indicates the device is outside the range of the nodaldevice. The relative strength of the radiobeacon signal is proportionalto the proximity between the nodal device and the controlledradiobeacon.

The nodal device or the radiobeacon or both may monitor otherconditions. Each other condition and combinations of two or moreconditions may be paired or otherwise associated with each other toprovide multiple conditions for triggering an alert. In addition to therange signal radiobeacon, the radiobeacon may carry one or more sensorsand each sensor may output one or more signals representative of otherconditions monitored by the sensors. Other conditions include and arenot limited to motion of the sensor in any direction or in a particulardirection; temperature and other signals representative of time, thegeographic location of the radiobeacon or motion and other physical,biological or chemical conditions being monitored by sensors. As such,each condition monitored may be associated or paired with any other oneor more conditions to provide multiple conditions that must be met totrigger an alert.

Time of day may be combined with other trigger signals to enable ordisable one or more alerts, such as enabling a motion alert during thenight but disabling the alert during the day. Other trigger signals andtheir combinations and/or sequences are possible with added sensors. Theradiobeacons of the embodiments of the invention may use any of a vastnumber of sensors including and not limited to sensors for motion.Distance, velocity and acceleration, temperature, pressure, magneticfields, gravity, humidity, moisture, vibration, pressure, light,electrical fields, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, cosmic rays, andother physical aspects of the external environment; analytes forchemical or biological substances including and not limited to sensorsfor detecting toxic compositions such as carbon monoxide, carbondioxide, methane, and other hazardous or poisonous components. Theradiobeacons may be worn as badges by personnel to detect ambientanalytes and physical parameters. The data collected by the radiobeaconmay be sent to the data collection center of a cloud host 1000 whereothers can analyze it and provide responses or alerts to the personnelwearing the radiobeacons.

FIG. 20B is a screenshot 1900 b representing an exemplary graphical userinterface for reporting locations of radiobeacons superimposed on aphysical map of a defined area as displayed on a typical smartphone. Themap can be zoomed in or zoomed out. Objects associated with a particularradiobeacon by an owner of the radiobeacon can be reported as lost tothe cloud host server and if the radiobeacon identifier is detected byone or more other nodal devices, the cloud host server generates a mapfor the owner showing an approximate location of the device, for exampleas a set of GPS coordinates and a thumbtack centered over the objectslikely location.

A top banner indicates an exit to a home page (icon 1952), and anindicium 1902, indicating that the display relates strictly toradiobeacon TD1. Indicium 1956 shows battery strength for theradiobeacon in percent; indicium 1907 is the release control command,and 1909 opens a toolbox of advanced user settings for configuring theradiobeacon. The next banner shows leftmost an indicium 1960 which whentouched with immediately sound the audible homing signal for locatingthe radiobeacon when lost. The speaker in the radiobeacon will soundintermittently until the user finds it. Similarly, the indicium 1962when touched activates an LED in the radiobeacon, making it easy to findin a darkened room or at night. Light is strobed periodically to helpthe user find the missing radiotag. If the radiobeacon is equipped witha vibrator, another symbol would be shown to activate the vibration.Triangular icon 1990 takes the user to a screen with options for settingalerts. The user may select the kind of alert (audio, light, vibration)and may pair the alert with contingencies such as distance or motion.Remote control may also be established between the smartphone and theradiobeacon. As explained above, a radiobeacon may control thesmartphone and vice versa. If desired, the user may have an alert showup on the user's smart phone under one or more conditions. The user mayoperate a loudspeaker on the radiobeacon. The user may also for exampleset an alert when the battery is low. Other alerts can be set forseparation distance of the radiobeacon and the smartphone. Controls willalso configure the multi-function button, allowing the user to remotelyoperate the camera of the cellphone, or to send a pre-determined emailor message by the press of a button. Further alert settings may dependon conditions such as location pairing. In this case, the alert isconditional and occurs only when the radiobeacon is at home, such thatother alerts apply when the user is at work. Locations are identifiableby latitude and longitude and by range.

Icon 1964 is a map pin. Touching the map pin changes the screen shotfrom a range grid to a physical map 1967. The map includes a map pinsymbol 1968 showing the approximate location of the radiobeacon 1902.The location is acquired from other nodal devices in its vicinity bysharing resources as described above. In the lower banners, icon 1968again indicates shared control or access to a particular radiobeacon.Icon 1970 allows the user to quickly post a lost device on the cloudhost. Selecting symbol 1972 marks the TD1 radiobeacon as private andonly a privileged user may see the data generated from TD1 as well asthe location of TD1. Data may be encrypted by the encoder as needed.Encrypting means are described for example in US Pat. Appl. Doc. No.61/892,178 titled: “Beacon Obfuscation by Time Based Association Key”which is incorporated herein in full by reference. Other encryptionmethods are known in the art. Symbol 1974 allows the user to release allcontrol of the radiotag TD1. At that point, the radiotag TD1 may beclaimed and controlled by any other authorized user. The bottom banner1976 indicates other users with whom the current user has shared TD1.

Radiobeacon embodiments with a nine-axis temperature sensor package maybe used to pair location, time, temperature, direction, and position,velocity and acceleration in each of three directions. For example, auser could set an alert to show whether the speed of a radiobeacon 1902exceeded a threshold of ten miles per hour in the time between 10 AM to11 AM on Aug. 4, 2014, when the temperature was between 75-85° F. whiletraveling north (0-90°) within the city limits of Seattle, Wash. Assuch, motion, time, temperature heading and location may all be pairedtogether or in any combination of one or more types of sensedinformation to set an alert. The pairing of radiobeacon 1902 with asmartphone having GPS has endless possibilities. Motion data can beconfigured to user-defined alerts that include activating the speakerand LED. For instance, if a user was jogging and his speed dropped belowa threshold, the speaker on the radiobeacon would buzz. In anotherembodiment the radiobeacon monitors temperature outdoors, and buzz fromspeaker accompanied by a notification on a smartphone could warn theuser when the temperature dropped below a level that would harm outdoorplants.

In some embodiments the 9-axis sensor enables the systems of theinvention for gestural control of functions of nodal devices. A programapplication installed on a nodal device records motion of a radiobeaconand associates the recorded motion with a function of the nodal device.With the application installed and running, the nodal device records amotion or set of motions of the radiobeacon such as a gesture. In otherapplication-driven uses, a user may map out specific locations, clickthe button and the radiobeacon will save the place of interest. Forexample, a surveyor could walk a specific path, and mark specific pointsof interest such as corners of a road, or edges of a hill. Thegeographic properties of each point of interest would be saved andmapped out. Thus, the radiobeacons when used with systems and networkarchitectures of the invention have uses in the fields of gardening,home security, child monitoring, health/fitness, sports applications,navigation, commercial and industrial monitoring and safety appliances,while not limited thereto. Further examples are as follows.

Example I

In a first example, a radiobeacon is positioned inside a passengervehicle while the vehicle's owner runs a few errands. A sensor unitdelivers data to a processor in the radiobeacon. If the internaltemperature in the vehicle rises about a comfort level of perhaps 28°C., the radiobeacon will task itself to encode the most currenttemperature reading into bits 22-23 of a 26-bit data value. This will bebroadcast following a distinctive radiobeacon message preamble. Anycompetent nodal device (having the needed software) that is owned by anyanonymous community user in proximity to the radiobeacon (or one ownedby the radiobeacon owner) will detect the message transmission. Anapplication installed on the device will wake up when it recognizes thecharacteristic signal qualities and will upswitchedly transmit anamplified data packet to an internetwork compatible radioset and radioprotocol and transmit that temperature data along with any uniqueidentifiers to a cloud host that performs data validation and accessesinstructions as to how to respond, what notification to push to thebeacon owner's smartphone or other nodal device, and any other actionsappropriate to the context. For instance, if the temperature rises to35° C., the cloud host may be configured to make a notification to anemergency response number by telephone, using an electronic format or avoice synthesizer. The host will ask the emergency responder to press“one” on a keypad to acknowledge that first responders have beenmobilized, and will then again notify the owner of the radiobeacon, thistime that an emergency response is on the way. The redundancy providedby crowd-sharing a switching capability to send the radiobeacon outputto a cloud host server ensures that a stepwise and effective response isachieved, even if the owner of the vehicle is unable to receive anotification (perhaps because the distance exceeds the 150 feet or sothat the radiobeacon can transmit, or the owner's smartphone is shieldedby structures that block the signal). In this way the owner of theradiobeacon is shown to be acting responsibly and can withstand scrutinyif a child or a pet is left in a locked vehicle without an adult inattendance for a short period of time. Nodal devices lacking theapplication typically will discard the data packet. But community usershaving the application will share a limited set of background resourceswith the owner of the radiobeacon, ensuring the safety of children andpets. Thus a limited sharing of resources achieves a greater benefit,and the system reciprocates by providing the same service if the role ofowner and passerby is reversed. Anonymous users may be incentivized asneeded to download the application from a distribution server associatedwith the cloud host, thereby becoming a community member.

Example II

In another example, by dynamically sharing resources provided byanonymous users as described in Example I above, an owner of a vehiclehaving a radiobeacon can receive a notification from a cloud host whenthe signal from the radiobeacon is lost due to excess distance orshielding that obstructs the signal. By configuring a radiobeacon withan accelerometer package, the radiobeacon can be triggered to encode andbroadcast a signal if the vehicle is shaken such as by a car dooropening or a broken window. Again sensor data is encoded and attached tothe radiobeacon ping so that a message is transmitted that can bereceived by the owner's device or by an anonymous user's device. Underone circumstance, an owner's nodal device will intercept the broadcastsignal and, using foreground resources in the nodal device under controlof an application designed to receive and assess the data packet, push anotification onto the owner's nodal device, perhaps also disabling thevehicle's ignition system. Simultaneously, in background, any communitymembers in radio proximity will receive the same broadcast signal andupswitch the signal to a cloud host. The cloud host will resolve theowner's address and according to notification policies, send anotification to the owner. First responders may also be called to thelocation, according to context. This redundancy ensures that the ownerwill be notified even if outside the radio transmission range of thebeacon. The kindness of strangers in sharing resources becomes avaluable tool for avoiding injury or loss and is reciprocated betweenall community members. Surprisingly, passersby may not even know theyhave assisted.

Example III

Using essentially the system as described in two preceding examples, anowner mounts a radiobeacon on his front porch, above the door jamb. Theradiobeacon is provided with a sensor package that includes a photocell,an accelerometer module with temperature sensor, an infrared motiondetector, and a microphone with signal pattern analysis capability.Sensor data is routinely buffered in the radiobeacon and periodicallyencoded in a message that is preceded by a radiobeacon-specific preamblewhen transmitted. Transmission is made using a low-energy radioset. Whenat his residence, any message will be received by the owner on asmartphone or other device and notification will be made according torules established during setup of an application designed to recognizethe message and decode the sensor data, adding context as needed.Notifications will be made using foreground resources, waking up thedevice and the owner as needed. Under other circumstances, when theowner is not home, transmissions will be received at random by anyproximate user carrying a compatible device and will be switched over toan internetwork-enabled radioset for transmission to a cloud host. Thusif the sound of a gunshot is recognized by the sensor package, theradiobeacon will be triggered to encode a data packet and will transmita message using shared resources provided by any ad hoc anonymous users(perhaps the neighbors' smart device) to the cloud host, where the datawill be analyzed and actions taken. A notification may be made to policeresponders, but also may be made to all anonymous users in the area(such as the neighbor), thus propagating the value of the information tomultiple users, not merely the owner of the radiobeacon. So whereneighborhood watch groups have been formed and members of theorganization have installed the application and registered with thecloud host, a stronger level of cohesive local response is achieved inconcert with the response by police, resulting in a higher level ofpublic safety and an increased number of witnesses.

Example IV

Radiobeacons in a typical distributed installation with anonymous ownerswill likely not have overlapping radio contact. While installation in asingle retail location is achievable, larger urban tracts generallycannot be united into a low energy radio network because of gaps inradio coverage. Thus a nodal device sharing a local radio signal area isneeded to switch bluetoothed signals onto a broad area network. In someinstances an owner's nodal device may perform this function, in otherinstances promiscuous, dynamic radio contact is made with the smartdevices of anonymous users, literally passersby, providing anopportunity, when used with a compatible dual network device, to switchmessages to the broad area network without cost to the anonymous user.However, this flickering network has an important advantage, asignificant number of the radiobeacons are stationary, and this subsetis known and is part of a stationary ad hoc network, for example all theradiobeacons in all the department stores, plus any radiobeacons placedby private or governmental users. In some cases, thousands of these lowenergy radiobeacons are powered up and affixed in defined locations.Thus inertial activity detected by an accelerometer sensor package in aradiobeacon indicates a relative movement, and when multipleradiobeacons report a synchronous movement of about the same magnitudeover a local area, there is a high likelihood that an earthquake isoccurring. Cellphones have been tested to detect earthquakes, but notsuccessfully. The GPS system of a cellphone is sensitive enough toreport a major ground shift, but cellphones are subjected to continuousjostling in normal use, so the motion signal is not readily pulled outof background motion and signal noise. Now, surprisingly, a radiobeaconmatrix covering an urban area will report a clean signal of acoordinated earth motion. By capturing this data on an ad hoc switchingnetwork of nodal devices and aggregating it at a cloud server, thespread of a seismic event can be detected with such rapidity thatpersons outside the epicenter can be warned of an approaching seismicwave. The cloud host will analyze sensor data in real time and may beprogrammed to send out an alert estimating the size of the earthquakeand an estimate of the areas in which it will be felt or cause damage,and then send a report to all users in those areas, as well ascontacting authorities. Thus while a cellphone network fitted withaccelerometers may be limited to detecting very strong events, Magnitude7 or higher, when queries, a radiobeacon network and a population ofnodal devices can spontaneously function as an earthquake sensor forMagnitude 4 earthquakes or lower, and can detect the initial P wave ofan earthquake so as to maximize the response time in getting out anotification to all users in the area ahead of the seismic wave.Radiobeacons can also monitor radio traffic and can detect urbancongestion, any kind of disturbance, and so forth, and because the softswitch operates in background, the data can be transmitted as a“micro-message” to the internetwork without interference by cellphones,which typically become overloaded during emergencies.

Example V

In yet another instance, the radiobeacon may be attached to something ofvalue, such as a laptop computer. Then if the owner of the laptop orcellphone reports the item lost to the cloud server, the cloud hostserver will tag any report of a radio contact with the radiotag by anyanonymous user anywhere. This occurs without a query from the cloudserver and in background on a limited resource network, without directparticipation of any users. Reports of radio contacts are sent asmessages to the cloud host server using a soft switch of the invention.This example recognizes that radio contacts are routinely recognized bynodal devices, and turns this to advantage by switching over any messageattached to a radio contact having a characteristic beacon signal to aninternetwork compatible radioset for transmission to a dedicated cloudhost an administrative database for tracking. The radio contact datathat is transmitted to the cloud host will typically include atimestamp. In some instances, background resources of devices owned byanonymous users may also be able to provide a geostamp, or the devicesmay have a history of recently being in proximity to a radiobeaconhaving a fixed location. And by collating this information, the cloudhost is able to provide a trail of radio contacts to the owner, therebyassisting the owner in localizing the current location of the lost itemand recovering it. In this way spontaneous, anonymous and unsolicitedsharing of resources provides a benefit with minimal cost to any user.In some instances location data is encoded by bit-overloading within thedata structure of an ordinary beacon transmission.

Example VI

The disclosures of the invention enable a wide range of applications,many of which have not yet been conceived. However, the inventors are inpossession of a system enabling a range of applications representativeof future uses, the system having general applicability based on sharingof background resources for compact background messaging in a bottom-uparchitecture, where the cloud host does not generally query availableresources but instead receives a promiscuous and spontaneous stream offlickering micro-messages that can be assembled into coherent contextualdata on which decisions can be made, either as selected by particularowners for example of a particular radiobeacon originating a message, orat the system level, for example based on aggregated data collected frommultiple community resources. Here are samples of other applications:

-   -   one-click ordering a pizza using a radiobeacon in which a button        press is encoded in a message that is transmitted through a        nodal device to a cloud host server;    -   one-click engagement of cruise control on a computer-enabled        vehicle while in gear;    -   one-click engagement of steering on an automatically steered        vehicle while taking a telephone call;    -   multi-click engagement of a “Nest” or “HomeKit” that controls        home thermostat, smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms,        earthquake alarms, and other domestic functions such as a garage        door, security camera, or locks;    -   automatic (no click) functions such as auto-locking of hard        drives when an earthquake P-wave is detected approaching a        compatible user device;    -   automatic (no click) functions such as notification of first        responders when a sound of a gunshot is detected, a smoke alarm        goes off, a door lock is forced without a key; or motion is        detected in an expectedly vacant house or office;    -   automatic (no click) alerts when a prolonged QT heart rhythm is        detected;    -   one-click uploading of a document from a remote computer to a        “Google Drive” account;    -   multi-click semi-automated formatting and sending of a message        to an email or SMS account of a recipient, either through an        Android function of a smart phone or indirectly when executed in        IOS on an iPhone (Android 4.0 and higher or iOS 7.0 and higher);    -   one-click categorization of emails into junk, spam, archive, or        priority accounts;    -   one-click access to a local map using smart device resources;    -   one-click silencing of a ring function on a smart phone, with        multi-click instruction for a making pre-programmed response by        a virtual answering machine or taking a message;    -   one-click activation or inactivation of voice command mode in        any compatible application; and/or,    -   multi-click selection and play from a playlist on any compatible        music device.

All these applications have the advantage of shortcutting many API's andinterfaces that the user must otherwise individually engage to get tothe desired functionality. Reducing the “system behavior” to a singleclick, a no-click, or a multi-click switch status enables the system todetect the switch status and immediately implement a pre-programmedresponse. For repetitive and emergency system behaviors, there is acorresponding reduction in labor and an increase in systemresponsiveness in both speed of response and accuracy. The precisenature of the response is dependent on sensor content of the message,which may be as simple as a HIGH or LOW position of a button, or may bea more complex function that integrates context, such as time of day,day of week, weather conditions, pulse rate, or vehicle performanceindicia input from an ODB sensor panel, traffic hazard sensing and routeplan input from a route mapping service, and various combinations ofsensor inputs and big data. In addition, the system operator can updateand add new functions on the host cloud server so that system upgradesare implemented by redirecting the messages from a community device tothe cloud host server and back, using control loop architecture having asignal transmission and command response, eliminating or complementingthe need for periodic new releases of software to the member devices.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent application publications, U.S.patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patent applications andnon-patent publications referred to in this specification and relatedfilings are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for allpurposes.

SCOPE OF THE CLAIMS

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the specificdetails are not required in order to practice the invention. Thus, theforegoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present inventionare presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatmany modifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings.

The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

In general, in the following claims, the terms used in the writtendescription should not be construed to limit the claims to specificembodiments described herein for illustration, but should be construedto include all possible embodiments, both specific and generic, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.Accordingly, the claims are not limited in haec verba by the disclosure.

We claim:
 1. A system for upswitching sensor and identification datacontained in a low energy radio beacon message to a dedicated cloud hostvia at least one community nodal device in operative communication witha broad area network, the system comprising: (a) one or moreradiobeacons having a sensor or sensor package, a radio emitter withantenna, an encoder, a processor with supporting data processingcircuitry, and memory for storing data and an instruction set to beexecuted by said processor, wherein said radiobeacon or radiobeacons areconfigured to emit a low energy radio message that includes an ownerunique identifier, a community unique identifier, and a sensor payload;wherein said unique identifiers define a qualified radio signal, furtherwherein each said radio message is associated with a private owner ofsaid radiobeacon or radiobeacons, said owner being identifiable by saidindividual unique identifier, said owner belonging to a community ofmembers; (b) a broad area network, said broad area network having acloud host, said cloud host having a dedicated cloud IP addressassociated with said community of members, and wherein said cloud hostis configured to identify a qualified radio signal, an owner of recordof the qualified radio signal, and any sensor payload in said qualifiedradio signal; (c) one or more smart devices of a plurality of smartdevices in radio communication with said radiobeacon or radiobeacons andwith said cloud host, each said smart device having a registered owner;(d) an application installable on said one or more smart devices;wherein said application is enabled to: i) reconfigure said one or moresmart devices as each a community nodal device, each said communitynodal device having permission to use background resources thereof toseparate said qualified radio signal from unidentifiable signals, todump said unidentifiable signals, to time stamp said qualified radiosignal, and to disable foreground disclosure thereof when said owner ofrecord of said qualified radio signal is not said private owner of saidradiobeacon or radiobeacons; ii) format said qualified radio signal as aradio message addressed to said dedicated cloud IP address associatedwith said community of members; and, iii) use background resources toforward broadcast said radio message on said broad area network to saidcloud host; (e) further wherein said cloud host is enabled to receivesaid qualified radio signal from one or more of said community nodaldevices; i) parse said qualified radio message to identify an owner ofrecord and any sensor payload; ii) formulate a command or notificationin response thereto according to rules established by said owner ofrecord, said community of members, and said sensor payload; and, iii)transmit said command or notification over said broad area network to atleast one smart device or community nodal device of said plurality ofsmart devices, to a remote machine, to an actuation device, or to acombination thereof.
 2. The system of claim 1, further wherein saidqualified radio signal is processed at an administrative server of saidcloud host, wherein said administrative server is configured with anadministrative database and an instruction set with instructions to: i)parse said radio message so as to extract said owner unique identifier,said sensor payload, and any associated timestamp, proximitymeasurement, or geostamp coded therein; ii) formulate said command ornotification based on one or more of a) a rule or rules associated withsaid owner of record; b) a rule or rules implemented by a systemadministrator on behalf of said community of members; and, c) anycontextual or aggregate data available to said server.
 3. The system ofclaim 2, wherein said application is configured to suspend any processenabled to process said message in foreground services if said owner ofrecord of said qualified radio signal is said registered owner of saidsmart device and if said foreground services are unresponsive, andautomatically upswitch and forward broadcast said message in backgroundto said cloud host server for disposition according to rules associatedwith said private owner of said smart device, any rules implemented by asystem administrator on behalf of a community of members, and anycontextual or aggregate data available to said system.
 4. The system ofclaim 2, wherein said cloud host is configured to transmit said commandto said plurality of smart devices, wherein said command is a command todisplay a notification to a community of members having converted theirsmart devices to community nodal devices.
 5. The system of claim 2,wherein said application is configured to assemble and configure a smartswitch from hardware resources of said community device; to dump anyrecord or content of said message from said community nodal device oncompletion of said forward broadcast to said cloud host server; and,thereby to reversibly use and release any hardware resources shared bysaid community device each time said soft switch is required foroperation of said application.
 6. The system of claim 2, wherein saidcloud host is configured to transmit a command over said broad areanetwork to a remote machine, an actuation device, or a pluralitythereof.
 7. The system of claim 6, comprising transmitting said commandto said plurality of remote machines or actuation devices, wherein saidcommand is a command to execute a machine action or to actuate a device.8. The system of claim 2, wherein said sensor or sensor package of saidone or more beacons comprise a sensor or sensors selected from aphotocell, a radiation sensor, a motion sensor, a velocity sensor, anaccelerometer, a jolt sensor, a gyroscopic sensor, a gesture sensor, agravitational sensor, a magnetic field sensor, a compass, a local timesensor, a switch open/switch closed sensor, a vibration sensor, an audiopattern detection sensor, a vehicle performance sensor, a biologicalagent sensor, a biochemical agent sensor, a chemical agent sensor, atemperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a windspeedsensor, a location sensor, a global positioning satellite sensor, aproximity sensor, a relative radio signal strength sensor, or a radiotraffic sensor.
 9. The system of claim 2, wherein said system comprisesa first plurality of radiobeacons attached to a plurality of portableobjects and a second plurality of radiobeacons having defined stationarylocations.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein said command is directedto a smart device, a remote machine, or an actuation device according toa location datum received from a radiobeacon conditionally on whethersaid radiobeacon is stationary and known to said system, or mobile anddeduced from an aggregation of radio messages.
 11. The system of claim8, wherein said command is directed to a plurality of smart devices,remote machines, or actuation devices according to a location datumreceived from said sensor or sensor package, from said nodal device,from a radiobeacon conditionally on whether said radiobeacon isstationary and known to said system, or mobile and deduced from anaggregation of radio messages.
 12. The system of claim 2, wherein saidcommand is configured to accord with rules established by an owner ofsaid radiobeacon or an operator of said administrative server, saidrules being conditional according to said sensor payload.
 13. The systemof claim 2, wherein said command is configured to accord with rulesestablished by an owner of said radiobeacon or an operator of saidadministrative server, said rules being conditioned upon said context asknown to said administrative server.
 14. The system of claim 8, whereinsaid administrative server is configured to store a chronological recordof said sensor payloads of an aggregation of messages.
 15. The system ofclaim 8, wherein said administrative server is configured to compile andshare a map or plot display in which sensor data is graphicallydisplayed in aggregate, or graphically displayed with trend lines, orgraphically displayed with an updatable tracker function.
 16. The systemof claim 2, wherein said administrative server is configured to providea cloud-based service for graphically displaying the location of a lostobject as tracked by a radiotag defined by said owner unique identifierand a community unique identifier in the form of a track or pathsuperimposed on said map, wherein said map is updated when saidadministrative server receives a fresh radio contact and location ofsaid lost object, said track comprising a chronological record of recentcontacts in a mapped sequence.
 17. The system of claim 2, wherein saidadministrative server is configured to provide a cloud-based service formapping the location of a friend.
 18. The system of claim 1, whereinsaid radio message comprises a plurality of frames, each frame having adefined number of bytes or bits, and further wherein said encoder isconfigured to overload one or more of said frames with at least onesensor datum when transmitting said radio message.
 19. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said radio message comprises frames; and each framecomprises a sensor payload such that sensor payloads are streamed inseries in real time as a concatenation of frames streamed in series in amessage.
 20. The system of claim 1, wherein said radio message includesa unique identifier value, a major value, a minor value, and a sensorpayload for each of a plurality of radiobeacons in a local area, whereinsaid administrative database is configured to map said sensor payloadaccording to a known location of each of said radiobeacons and togenerate a display that displays aggregated most recent or aggregatedhistorically trending sensor data from each of said radiobeacons, suchthat said display is continuously refreshed and can be accessed tosupport user queries.
 21. The system of claim 1, wherein saidradiobeacon includes at least one button, and said radio message emittedby said radiobeacon includes a unique identifier value and a sensor datapayload, said sensor data payload reporting a state of said button, andfurther wherein: a) said button is configured to generate a message whenpressed that will be recognized at cloud host server as a call for helpor vigilance; b) said radiobeacon is configured to convey said messageto said cloud host server through said plurality of community nodaldevices; and, c) said cloud host is configured to transmit a command anda notification to a first responder, including a timestamp and alocation of said radiobeacon.
 22. The system of claim 21, wherein saidcloud host is configured to command an increase in illumination, strobelamps, or sound of an alarm at the location of said radiobeacon, or to acamera at the location when said button is pressed and said message isreceived at said cloud host server.
 23. The system of claim 1, whereinsaid community nodal devices are defined by a common denominatorselected from institution, neighborhood, user profile, or location. 24.The system of claim 23, wherein said cloud host is configured to send anotification to said community nodal devices defined as belonging to aninstitution, neighborhood, or location of a potential need for vigilanceat said location, wherein said notification is sent when a button pressis received at said cloud host server.
 25. The system of claim 2,wherein said radio signal from said radiobeacon is encoded in framesdefining an identifier and a sensor signal.
 26. The system of claim 5,wherein said operation of said soft switch and said upswitch process isautomatic, being conducted without access to or access by a userinterface.